


Lost in Memory

by DarkAbyss



Category: Sonic X, Sonic the Hedgehog - All Media Types
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Developing Friendships, Developing Relationship, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Family Bonding, Gen, Identity Issues, Laboratory Experiments, M/M, Mentions of Non-Consensual Drugs Use, Mentions of Violence, On Hiatus, Sibling Bonding, Team as Family, The Ark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-09-30
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2017-12-28 01:54:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 64,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/986263
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkAbyss/pseuds/DarkAbyss
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Animeverse (English version of Sonic X, post Season 2). A year and half after the end of the war against the Metarex, life has gone back to normal for Sonic and Co., at least until a certain black hedgehog comes back out of the blue. But this time Shadow not only brings two unexpected new companions with him, but also a whole world that, even if it belongs to a long lost past, still haunts him and seems to have no intention of setting him free. And what if those past but still vivid memories suddenly become a "present" again thanks to a failed experiment?<br/><br/><b>Temporary on Hiatus</b></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Back to Life

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody!
> 
> Lately I've become quite obsessed with Sonic and Co. after re-watching the anime and starting reading Archie comics. I've been reading some great fanfiction and so I felt like I wanted to write a story myself! I don't know the games very much (mostly because unfortunately I don't possess the consoles to play them) but I'm working on it!
> 
> So, the story is mostly Animeverse, even if there could be some reference to the games (especially about Shadow's past), and it's set about a year and half after the defeat of the Metarex. It is based on the English version, mostly because I liked Molly a lot and it was so sad when she died in the Japanese one! I need her alive, she is one of the main character actually! I'm trying to keep the characters as IC as possible, but if it seems to you that I'm not doing fine, please tell me!
> 
> The first chapters are maybe a little slow, because nothing really important happens. They are mostly about character's interacting and similar, but I promise that the real issue of the story will come soon. I'm not entirely sure of where I found the idea for the plot, but I hope you'll enjoy it!
> 
> Let me know if you think I should go on with the story!
> 
> *Warnings*: the story will contain shonen-ai (Shadow x Sonic, Sonadow, meaning male x male), if you don't like, don't read, please! Rating is for future reference to violence!
> 
> *Disclaimer*: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.

**Chapter 1 – _Back to life_**

It was a starry night. The sky was a sea of black and light, and the full moon shone like a dead sun, bathing the metal buildings with silver glows. A dark figure was staring intently at the stars from the top of one of the many flat roofs, confusing himself with the surrounding shadows. His thoughts however were far away from where he was, in another world and in another time. The past he had believed forever gone had come back in the last months and now it haunted him every time he was alone with his solitude. Not that he minded too much. The memories were painful but they finally allowed him to know who he had been and where he came from. Besides, even if some of them were absolutely dreadful, he could still ease the horror with the glimpses of joy and warm that also inhabited his past.

In particular, there was a figure that dominated almost all his memories. Long blond hair, deep blue eyes and the sweetest smile. She brought him both sadness and happiness, sorrow and comfort, hate and love. She had been the centre of his existence since his “birth” and she still held a relevant place in his heart, even after all that time. But her ghost was the one who haunted him the most as well. She had been gone for such a long time, but the gentle pain was still extremely real and present in his mind and spirit. It filled him with melancholy and longing. She had been his family, his sister, his best and only friend. With her death he had lost everything he possessed but his physical life. Too many times he had thought that he should have died with her that fateful day, but something had always held him from reaching out for her in the eternal darkness. A promise that he had made and that he had no intention of breaking. He had sworn that he would have protected the planet she had loved so much and its life.

However, even after he had actually kept his word by risking his own life, death hadn’t taken him in her cold embrace. He had come back once again, with neither memory nor identity and nothing to support him but the duty of protecting the universe and life in general. Now he knew that, deep down, he was still clinging hard on that old promise, defending with all his strength those living beings that she had loved without even knowing them. He was still standing out for them because he wanted to honour her memory.

Shadow sighed and put himself in a seated position. Now that he was able to remember all his past he found it even harder to believe that he had actually survived the last battle. He had used all his energy, down to the last spark of it, and he had been caught in the middle of the same explosion he had trapped in the chaos barrier. His body should have been _disintegrated_. But it seemed that, once again, Fate wasn’t done with him and he had been forced to rise again. After all he was the Ultimate Life Form. If there was someone who could have made it out alive that was him. Yet, he still knew that he would have died anyway if they hadn’t by chance found his body fluctuating in the space. And, considering _who_ had bumped into his broken form, he could no longer denied that there had to be some sort of destiny creeping into his life from time to time to give it an unexpected turn.

He shook his head at that thought. It was stupid and disturbing at the same time. He had never believed in that kind of things. He was persuaded that the universe was lead by pure chance and nothing was already written. But he couldn’t help considering other hypothesis every time he recalled all he had outlived too.

“Shadow!” A voice called his name, bringing him back to the present. “Oh, here you are! I’ve been looking for you for at least an hour!”

He moved his gaze from the sky and turned to face slightly irritated blue eyes that always reminded him of the ones he had lost long before. “Molly, it’s you. Is something wrong?” He asked, ignoring the girl’s impatient tone. “You should know where to find me. I always come here at night.”

“Yeah, whatever! I haven’t thought about it,” she mumbled waving her hand at him. “Anyway, we were waiting for you! It’s time for your weekly check-ups! We agreed that you’d have them this evening since you said you were busy during the day. Did you forget?”

“I did not forget, Molly. I simply decided that I don’t want to do them,” he explained quietly. “There’s no need. I’m fully recovered.”

“You can’t know if you are, you stubborn hedgehog! We’ve already gone through this last week. And the one before too,” she insisted, crossing her arms. “Do it for me, if you don’t care about your own well-being! I _am_ concerned about your health. Not only because you defeated the Metarex and saved us all, but also because we’ve become friends! And, hey, I saved your sorry ass, don’t forget it. If it hadn’t been for me you may still be fluctuating somewhere in the galaxy! You _owe_ me.”

The black hedgehog glanced at her with a frown, but then surrendered. “Fine. Let’s go and do those stupid tests. But this is the last time,” he stated getting up. “Next time the “I saved you” card won’t work, I promise you.”

Molly smiled fondly, ignoring his slightly harsh tone. “You’re the best, Shadow!” She cheered up as they started to walk side by side. “Abel was quite worried about you too. You’re famous for your sudden disappearances and we know you always come back, but you’re one of us! We can’t help getting worried every time you go missing for a while.”

Shadow mentally agreed with her. Abel, Molly and himself had grown closer in those months and he was starting to consider them as family. It was a strange, warm feeling, one he had thought he would never experience again after the ARK tragedy. But he refrained from saying that aloud. He still wasn’t fond of expressing his emotions, even with his friends. “That doctor is always too apprehensive towards me. I can take care of myself,” he stated instead.

“Come on, you know that he has a soft spot for you. You’re the only one he allows in his lab all the time.” The girl’s smile widened playfully. “And you often join him. So it must mean that you care about him too!”

“It’s one of the few places on this planet that hold some interest for me,” he said, but he didn’t try to deny her statement. “And I believe that getting to know something more about the genetic and the chemistry of my body could be useful for future battles. The doctor seems to be the only one around here who can understand them. Besides, he is all too happy to study me.”

“Well, he’s a scientist and he’s as curious as brilliant. Which means he is _very_ curious. He is happy to study everything he gets his hand on, so how could he resist the chance to have a close look at the Ultimate Life Form?” The orange-haired girl joked. “It’s an once-in-a-lifetime chance for him! You should be flattered by his interest.”

He nodded absently but didn’t answer, his mind going briefly back to his memories. He wasn’t exactly in the mood for joking or being sociable. Molly seemed to notice him because she put a hand on his shoulder.

“You miss your home, don’t you? I can understand. I lost my planet and my people during the war and even if I’m happy here I still miss my old world at times,” she mumbled sadly. “The race who inhabits this planet is almost the same as mine, and it makes everything much easier, but I’m still aware that they are not _my_ kind. But I also know that I’m not alone and that gives me strength. They welcomed me as one of them when my spaceship crashed on this planet and I’m not letting my sadness prevent me from enjoying my new life.”

Shadow shrugged, his frown getting deeper. “It’s not like that. I don’t have a place that I can call “home”, Molly. I grew up in the space, among metal walls. There was only a person who gave me the feeling of “home”, but she died long time ago. I belong to nowhere.”

“But you still have friends, don’t you? You must miss them. Rouge, Dr. Eggman and his robot, and also the other people you told me about…” She answered back stubbornly. “Don’t tell me you never think about them!”

“They most likely think I’m dead. And it’s better this way. I’ve brought them only troubles. Besides, less bonds I have the best is for me.” His voice filled with bitterness. “Listening to what Abel says, I’m almost immortal, if I don’t get killed. I have lost enough when Maria died more than fifty years ago. I’m not going to let time make me go through that pain over and over again for all eternity. I decided to stay alive and protect this world because I have the power to do it and because this is what Maria would want from me, but I can’t get involved with it, even if she would surely wish I did. That’s too much, I just can’t, not even for her.”

The girl kept quiet, not knowing how to respond to those harsh words. She couldn’t deny them, they just stated the cruel truth, and she couldn’t sooth in any way the sense of void they brought with them. Living forever when everybody else was fated to die was maybe the worst curse to her. It meant facing the awareness that you would be always alone in the end. And she couldn’t blame her dark friend for wanting to avoid it, even if it meant shutting everyone out of his life. She just wished she could do something about it. Shadow didn’t open up to her often, but when he did he just poured his heart out for her to listen, showing how much he trusted and valued her friendship. That made her feel even more useless. The only thing she could do was offering him a chance to unload the emotions he usually kept for himself.

“You said you belong to nowhere,” she finally whispered, fixing her blue eyes in his crimson ones. “But that’s not true. You are home _now_ , Shadow.”

He quietly gazed back at her for a moment, then he turned away, cracking a small smile. Molly couldn’t even imagine how much those words meant to him.

They walked in silence for the rest of the way along the corridors, until they got to the laboratory. Molly opened the door without knocking and they entered the huge room filled with the most complex and sophisticated instruments. The technology of that planet was one of the most advanced they had ever seen and the black hedgehog couldn’t help thinking once again about how thrilled Eggman and a certain fox boy would have been if they had been able to see it. Besides, in the past months he had started to grasp how all that stuff worked and which principles were behind it, much to his personal satisfaction. For the first time after Maria’s death he had allowed himself to follow his curiosity and impulses, getting to taste once again what living for real meant. And he had to thank his orange-haired friend and Abel for that.

The said scientist had his shoulders to them, as usual all absorbed in some kind of experiment. He was a fine young man, younger than you would expect after hearing all he had done and invented, in his late twenties, thin and tall in his always present white coat. His gray eyes sparkled with brilliance and intelligence, emerging from a mass of messy violet hair.

“Uh…Abel?” Molly called out uncertain.

The young man lifted a hand to stop her. “Wait! I’m getting there…” He exclaimed, his voice almost triumphant. “Just some more seconds and…” His long fingers moved quickly among the electric wires that emerged from a metallic form. “…Here! Yeah, I did!” He smiled with pure satisfaction, lifting up something similar to a cubic box with a big hole in the middle of its frontal face, and turning towards his two guests.

“What should that thing be?” The girl asked, glaring sceptically at the metal box. “A new kind of microwave?”

“Not exactly, Molly. It’s a small but powerful portable scanner. It will allow me to study any object or living being without having to bring it in a special structure like this lab!” He sounded enthusiastic as a child who had just received the toy of his dreams. “Oh, Shadow, you’re here too! Finally! I’ve been waiting for you all day. It’s the perfect chance to test my new creature! You don’t mind, do you?”

The hedgehog simply shook his head and approached the young man. Being a test subject was hardly a new experience for him. He had been born as one, in a way. “What do you want me to do?” He asked.

“Just go and stand there. Keep your arms along your body,” the doctor answered, pointing the opposite wall and extracting a wire from nowhere. “It will take only a few seconds.” He connected the box to his computer and positioned it with the hole facing Shadow. “You ready? Stand still!” He pressed some buttons on the keyboard and a bright ray departed from his invention, meeting the dark creature’s body for a few moments. “Done! You can move, Shadow,” he announced examining the data that had appeared on the screen. “Oh, yes! It works perfectly! And you seem to be in your best shape, my dark friend!”

“If I had known it would have been so fast I would have come here sooner,” the dark creature mumbled, approaching the young scientist to look at his own tests results. “You did a fine job with that scanner, doctor.”

“Thanks! I’m quite proud of myself. It took me several months of hard work, but it was surely worth the troubles!” Abel patted the scanner softly, then a pensive expression appeared on his face. “By the way, I’ve been making another study about the way your body metabolizes that “chaos energy”, as you called it. I guess you already know how it works, but I still want to warn you. You shouldn’t use it without the Inhibitor Rings. I’ve noticed that every time I’ve asked you to use it for my experiments your body has been affected. And with that I don’t only refer to the fact that it drained you energies more than it normally does…”

“What are you talking about, doctor?” Shadow inquired raising an eyebrow. He didn’t get why the man was going around the matter and didn’t speak clear. He was aware that without the Rings he consumed more energy using his chaos powers. But it wasn’t a great deal, he was usually back fine in an hour. Besides, he was more than glad to take the risk considering what the goal was. He didn’t possess any chaos emerald at the moment and that could turn out to be a problem if an enemy showed up. He had searched around the whole planet, but he had found no trace of the gems. They must have scattered around the universe once again and finding them wasn’t going to be easy, especially considering the fact he was stuck at the research station. Trying to find a compromise, he had asked the scientist to do some researches. If the Metarex had been able to create fake but still working emeralds he had no doubt that his new friend could do the same thing using the energy present in the hedgehog’s body as a sample. And it had quite worked. Abel had been able to create for him a device, shaped as a little pendant that he always wore, which contained something that resembled the emeralds powers. He really couldn’t get why he shouldn’t be using it. “Care to explain?”

“What I mean, Shadow, is that you are…having troubles controlling that energy. When you release it, it always comes out too powerful than it should,” the young man explained. “At first I didn’t notice, but as we went on with the tests I couldn’t help starting to worry about it.”

The creature finally grasped the meaning of the other words. “Are you saying that I could lose control and destroy this place without even understanding that is going to happen?”

“Yeah, something like that. So, until I find something to replace your Rings, we’d better stop. After all the goal is reached, you have your weapon again. Let’s just keep it for when we would be really in danger, OK? You can fight without chaos powers. They told me you have become a master with guns too, haven’t you?”

The hedgehog shrugged faking indifference, while deep down the last sentence had given him a certain degree of pleasure. One month before, while he was wondering around the city to find something that could keep him busy, he had run into the police shooting range. He had sneaked inside the building, wondering where those firing sounds came from, and had stopped there to watch the men training until one of them had noticed his presence. Instead of chasing him away, the policeman had handed him his gun and challenged him, most probably because he was curious to see what the famous “alien of the research station” could do. He had his hard time not to laugh in the man’s astonished face when he had shown himself to be almost better than the whole police force, even if he had never used a gun before. That had been fun and he had been pleased to discover that he had another secret talent. From that time he had been spending at least a couple of hours per day at the range. It was a nice and useful way to kill time. “They are not so difficult to use. Anyway, I’ll do what you say, doctor. No more chaos energy until we find a new way to restrain it,” he agreed nodding. “I don’t want to blow up this planet. I’ll keep my powers more in check from now on.”

“I’m sure nothing bad will happen. You’re tough enough without having to use those powers, Shadow.” Molly, who had stayed aside while they were discussing, joined them as well, a smile on her face. She was much more carefree and cheerful since she had established on that planet. After all now she had a life and a family again. “Now, why don’t we go and drink to your success, Abel? It’s already quite late, it’s time for you to get out of this place!”

“You’re right, Molly! I’m totally in!” The young man agreed, smiling back. “Let’s go to my place, you can sleep there. Do you want to join us, Shadow?”

The black creature hesitated, but the girl prevented him from saying anything and answered in his place with force: “Of course he is coming!”

“Great! Then I can talk to both you about something else too. I’m sure you’ll find the news quite interesting!” The doctor exclaimed with a wink. “We’d better get going.”

Shadow rolled his eyes, but followed the two out of the lab without protesting. He knew that it would have been a useless waste of energy. Besides, he couldn’t deny that he was curious to hear what the man was referring to. After all, every time the young scientist had said he needed to talk to them about something, he had found himself involved in some kind of complicated, crazy to a certain degree, but interesting project. Something he didn’t mind at all.

  
Abel, as all his colleagues did, lived in the same building that hosted his laboratory, but on a different level. The labs were located in the underground part of the research station, while the personnel accommodations were on the highest floors. They were made of a small bedroom, a toilet and a kitchen that also served as a living room. The three were seated around the table set in the centre of the latter room, each with a glass of juice in hand.

“So, doctor, what do you wanted to tell us?” Shadow asked. He had let his two friends have their time toasting and chatting, but he was starting to get tired of sitting there and felt the need to go out on the roof again.

“Oh, right! Do you remember that spaceship we’ve talked about some time ago?” The young man said turning to face his black companion. “Well, I’ve actually worked on it in my spare time during the last eight months, and now it’s almost done. About one more week and it will be able to travel through space.”

“Wait, what spaceship?” Molly interjected, taken aback. “Are you planning to leave, Shadow? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I won’t stay here forever, Molly, you know it well. Not so soon, but one day I’m going to leave this place and travel around the universe,” the hedgehog explained calmly. “I just mentioned it to the doctor by chance during the first month after my awakening, it was him who decided to build the ship following his own will. I didn’t ask him to do it.”

“I see…” The girl muttered, not completely convinced.

“Anyway, that’s not what I was referring to,” Abel interjected, before the news totally wasted the mood. “I’ve built it because I wanted to go on a journey myself. It’s made for a small equip, three or four people in total. And I wanted to ask if you two were interested in coming with me. I’ve already got the permission from my boss. It’s a work trip actually, I’ve been given the task to gather data on some of the different species that inhabit the nearest galaxy to ours.”

“And why do you want us to come with you?” Shadow questioned. There was a note of suspiciousness in his voice, as if he had already grasped what was coming next.

On the doctor’s face appeared a knowing smile. “Well, first of all I’ll need someone who takes care of the ship and Molly is the best pilot I know. And you, Shadow, could be my assistant. You’ve become quite good and moreover you already work with me. It would be easier for me having to deal with someone who’s already used to my methods. Secondly…” He got up and grabbed a folder from one of the shelves. “…I thought this could interest you.” He took out a sheet and handed it to the dark creature.

The latter glanced at the document. It was a list of names, most likely the planets included in the project. One of them immediately caught his attention, not only because it was circled in red, but especially because it was more than familiar to him. Mobius. That confirmed his suspects. Molly, who was reading from behind him, noticed it too and her eyes lit up with understanding as soon as she put the information together.

“So, Shadow the Hedgehog, have I gained your interest?” Abel asked playfully, his smile growing wider. “Don’t lie to me.”

“You did, doctor, you did,” Shadow answered giving him little smirk. “You always find the right way to get my attention.”

“I thought you didn’t want to go back to them!” Molly pointed out, shooting his dark friend a questioning look. “You told me earlier tonight.”

“That’s true. I’d never go back to them with the sole purpose of seeing them. But you were right earlier, I have to admit I do miss those idiots after all,” he confessed, looking away. “I’d like to pay them a little visit, only to see their shocked faces at the news that I’m back from the dead once again. Moreover, I still have some matters concerning them I need to deal with.” He didn’t elaborate further, aware that the other two wouldn’t ask about it. They had learnt quickly how much he valued his own privacy and respected it.

In fact the girl just nodded with a smile, giving a brief squeeze to his hand and Abel exclaimed, barely refraining himself from jumping around to express his elation: “Then it’s settled! We’ll leave as soon as everything is ready. I’m _so_ excited! This will be my first intergalactic trip!”

Molly laughed at her older companion’s genuine enthusiasm and even Shadow allowed himself a brief amused smile. That guy was for sure one of the most brilliant people he had ever met, but he could be really childish at times. He got excited too easily.

The Ultimate Life Form gazed out of the window, leaving to the girl the task to make their friend calm down. So there he was, after a year and half, going back to that world he had already touched twice before being forced to leave it. He wondered how it would go that time. For once he wasn’t an enemy or an ally for any of them, he had no reason to step into their quarrels, but he was just a visitor with his own business to take care of. He wasn’t sure of what he was going to do once he would be face to face with Sonic and his companions once again, he couldn’t even foresee what he was going to feel. But he couldn’t deny that the prospective made him a slightly excited, even if he wasn’t going to admit or show it for any reason.


	2. Troubles...again!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! I'm back!
> 
> This is the second chapter of the story. I have realized I made a lot of errors in the previous one...I corrected them! I'm sorry for that!!
> 
> So, after Shadow and Molly, we'll get to see how Sonic and his gang are doing! Everything is the usual, daily life and fights...is it?
> 
> Please review to let me know if the story it's worth enough to be carried on! I appreciate any kind of comment!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: the story will contain shonen-ai (Shadow x Sonic, Sonadow, meaning male x male), if you don't like, don't read, please! Rating is for future reference to violence!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.

**Chapter 2 – _Troubles…again!_**

Tails sighed as he gazed at the puddles of water and mud scattered everywhere on the floor. He surely couldn’t prevent Sonic from going out for a run, not even if there was the Flood outside, but he still didn’t get why that hardhead wouldn’t use the towel he always left him in the hall for when he came back. The result was always a sleeping, still dump blue hedgehog on the couch and him having to clean up. The fox put his hands on his hips. It had already happened twice that week. That was really too much. Sonic was his best friend, he was like a big brother to him, but now he was going to give him a good telling-off.

“Sonic, wake up!” He called, approaching the sleeping figure. He shook the other’s shoulder. “Come on, I know you can hear me!”

The hero of Mobius opened an eye. “Gee, Tails! What’s up now?” He grumbled, still sleepy. “Something happened?”

Tails didn’t answered but simply pointed the floor, slightly tapping his foot. His best friend looked at what he was pointing and then cracked a nervous smile. “Come on, pal! Don’t tell me you are upset because of a bit of water!” He tried.

“A _bit_ of water? You have flooded the living room _again_! Without mentioning the couch!” The younger complained crossing his arms. “I always let you do whatever you want, but since we shared this house you could at least clean up your own mess! I already do the cooking and most of the housework! So you could at least avoid me the overtime, couldn’t you?”

Sonic stared at his little companion. He seemed really pissed off. Tails almost never got angry, especially at him, but he became quite dangerous the few times it happened. Not as dangerous as an upset Amy, but close enough. The fox boy would never hurt him physically but he could force him into the most boring and annoying possible tasks.

“Listen, I’m sorry for it! It won’t happen again!” He hurried up to say, trying to reassure his friend. “I’ll clean up immediately, OK? And next time I’ll take off my shoes and go straight to take a shower. Are you happy now?”

“I’ll be happy when I see you doing it,” Tails answered, but his voice already sounded less harsh. “Anyway, hurry up and clean this mess. There’s something I need to ask you.”

“Why don’t you tell me now?” The hedgehog asked. “I can do two things at the same times, you know? Well, at least I usually can…” He laughed grabbing the cloth that was handed to him.

The young genius cracked a smile as well. There was no way he could stay angry at him. Sonic was the most important person in his life and during the past year and half he had been there every time he had needed him, offering that special silent comfort that only the blue hedgehog was able to give. Losing Cosmo had been hard, especially at the beginning, and it had taken him some time to accept that she had had to do it to save the whole universe. That was her destiny, and nothing could have changed it. He shot a soft glance at the small tree that was growing outside the window. Thinking about her still made him sad, but now he could also appreciate her sacrifice.

He shook his head and came back to the present. “I’m just giving you another reason to do what I asked you,” he stated with a little grin, leaving the room.

“Oh, you can be cruel, Tails!” Sonic joked, flashing him one of his big smiles. He hadn’t missed the melancholy in his younger friend’s eyes, but he acted as he had. There was no need to approach the subject. The fox knew that he was there for him. So he just focused on his task, curiosity pushing him to be as fast as possible. After all speed was totally his area.

So, five minutes later, he joined Tails in the kitchen, a satisfied smirk printed on his face. “I’m done! I was quick, wasn’t I?” He sang, letting himself fall on a chair.

The other looked up from the project he was examining and smiled. “I expected no less from you,” he chuckled, shifting his tails. “So, about that thing. I was cleaning your room, even if it should have been your turn with the housework…But that doesn’t matter now. I accidentally bumped into that wooden casket you keep on your night stand…” He scratched his head, a little embarrassed. “I know I shouldn’t wander around your belongings, but I didn’t do it on purpose. The box fell on the floor and opened!”

The blue blur shook his head. “Don’t worry, pal! I’d never get mad at you for something like that. You’re my best friend, I don’t mind you touching my things,” he reassured his little companion. “You don’t need to feel sorry. It happens to be clumsy! Just go straight to the point.”

The young genius nodded, but hesitated a bit before speaking again. “Well, I couldn’t help noticing what was inside among the other things. It’s been a long time so I couldn’t help wondering…Why do you still have Shadow’s Rings?” He asked, sounding perplexed.

“So this is the big deal?” The blue hedgehog couldn’t help but laughed at his friend’s uncomfortable expression. “I was starting to get worried!” He crossed his arms and stated, as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe: “I keep the Rings so I can give them back to that faker when he’ll grace us with his presence once again. I’m quite looking forward to it. It’s been a while since the last time I had a real challenge. Old Egghead hasn’t been giving me enough excitement lately. Shadow never failed me, instead.”

“You think he is still alive? That’s crazy, Sonic!” The fox exclaimed, sceptical. “How could he have survived that explosion? He used all his energy!”

“We thought he was gone also after the ARK accident, but he showed up from nowhere,” Sonic stated calmly. “I’m sure that he has made it this time too. He’s the “Ultimate Life Form” as he always loves to remember us. He doesn’t die so easily. And he can’t be dead after knocking me out without warning as he did during the battle! I want my payback.”

“Your reasons make sense, apart from the latter. He isn’t a normal living being after all. If you’re right, I just wonder what’s keeping him from coming back,” Tails mused, pensive. “It’s already been more than a year and half.”

“Twenty months.” The blue blur shrugged. “I don’t know, maybe he lost his memory again. Or he isn’t in the mood to see us. You know how lunatic he is at times,” he offered. “But…Why do we have to talk about that dark piece of ice, by the way?”

“You’re the one who keeps his Rings and waits for him to come back!”

“It’s just because I’m getting bored and I need some news. _You_ were the one who started the discussion asking me about the Rings!”

Tails sighed. “I’m not the one who knows exactly how much time has passed since the last time we saw him…” He mumbled. “Listen, just drop this, OK? I agree, we don’t have to talk about him. If he shows up, we’ll see what to do. Until he doesn’t there’s nothing we should worry about.”

“That’s what I wanted to hear!” The hero cheered up giving a nod of approval. “Now, what about a snack? All that cleaning made me hungry…”

The young genius couldn’t help laughing. “Why I’m not surprised?” He commented. “Give me five minutes, I’ll cook you something.”

“Sure!”

Sonic leaned back against the seatback, absently observing his friend getting busy with the food. His mind was still on their previous argument, even if he had said he didn’t want to talk about it. Tails was right, maybe it had been a bit stupid conserving those Rings for such a long time. Even if Shadow was alive he had no reason to come back to them. He had never hung out with them, partially because they had always been on opposite sides until the final battles and mostly because the dark hedgehog simply never hung out. He was a loner, that wasn’t a secret. At times he seemed to dislike any kind of company and if he stuck with them was only for sense of duty. He didn’t have any bonds that could link him to them, even if the blue creature had heard his rival referring to him as a “friend” soon after knocking him out to prevent him from getting hurt during their last battle. Both his words and actions seemed to show that the black hedgehog cared about him and the others to some extent, but he didn’t dare to speculate too much on it. Shadow was an obscure abyss for most part, and you never knew what his true reasons were.

The blue blur ran a hand in his quills, chasing away that thought. There was no point in wasting time wondering about his nemesis right now. It wasn’t like he had to deal with him. He would just leave those considerations for the next time their paths would cross. He instead turned his attention to more urgent matters. He had just told his best friend that Eggman’s latest attacks had been lame, but he had the feeling that there was something going on. Every time their enemy had started to go “soft” on them he had later come out with some new sort of deadly weapon, giving him and his companions a really hard time. And he suspected that it was what was going to happen. But that time he wouldn’t let the madman fool him. He gazed out of the window, losing his green eyes in the storm. Whatever the doctor was planning, he would be ready to smash it.

 

The rain kept falling hard, making it difficult to see what was going on all around. Three figures wrapped in brown raincoats were advancing on the muddy path, trying their best not to trip on the soaked ground. They couldn’t have thought of a worst weather to go on a mission, especially such a delicate one. They had tried to convince their boss to wait until the storm was over, but there had been no way to make him change his mind. He was looking forward to put his hands on that information, it was quite clear, but that still didn’t justify the fact that they had been sent out to face the harsh climate while he just stayed seated in his base.

“I wonder why it’s always us who have to suffer the most uncomfortable conditions,” the tallest complained. “I hate the rain! I can feel my limbs already getting rusty!”

“Don’t tell me that! I’m fed up with all this dirty work we are forced to do!” The one on his left snorted, obviously irritated. “If I get wetter I’ll surely short-circuit! I’m glad that we’re almost at the base!”

“I can’t even fly with this storm!” The shorter cried out, pouting. “If I could it would take me much lesser time to get back.”

“Shut up, Bokkun! You’ve already caused enough troubles today,” the first one pointed out, glaring at him. “You and your explosion! We have almost got trapped because of you!”

“Well said, Decoe! I really don’t get why you had to come with us in the first place,” the second one agreed. “At times it seems that you do it on purpose.”

“But…But…It’s not true!” Bokkun squealed grabbing Bocoe’s arm and shaking it. “Why are you so mean with me?!”

“You are the one who messes with us!” Decoe talked back, while the gray robot freed himself from their companion’s grip. “How can you ask us to act nice with you?!”

The smaller robot stamped his feet but he couldn’t find a proper answer, so he kept quiet. He didn’t get why nobody could appreciate his pranks. They were a lot of fun for him. His victims instead always got furious, especially the doctor, and forced him to flee as fast as possible. Their reactions scared him every time.

The three went on walking without speaking for the rest of the time, until they finally reached Eggman’s headquarter. It was a huge construction, all made of metal and glass, build against the side of a slope. It was located deep in the forest, far away from every town or dwelling place, and it extended his foundations deep in the ground. They literally ran inside, eager to get out of the rain and sighed all together as soon as they found themselves in a dry place.

“Finally!” Bocoe exclaimed, quickly taking off his soaked coat and dumping it on the floor. “Let’s go and see the doctor. Then we can dry off!”

The other two nodded and got rid of their clothes as well, before following him along the corridor. The control room was in the middle of the building and it took the three several minutes to reach it. Once there they entered without knocking and found their creator in a heated discussion with a certain bat they knew too well. Or, rather, the mad scientist was quite worked up, mostly because the thief had actually found a way to elude his security system once again, while Rouge was just standing in front of him, apparently untouched by his harsh words.

“We’re back!” Decoe announced loudly. “Mission accomplished!”

“Mission, uh? What are you plotting this time?” the bat asked, curiously eyeing the CD that the yellow robot was carrying. “Some new weapon for world domination?”

“None of your business, bat girl,” Eggman rudely answered. Then he turned to his creations. “Here you are! I was starting to think that you had got lost. Why did you take you so long? You just had to get it from my old headquarter. Nothing so difficult!”

“Have you looked out of the window?” Bocoe asked, clearly irritated. “There is a huge _storm_! We aren’t comfortable in the rain!”

“And the place was completely destroyed. It wasn’t easy to find the data!” Decoe added with the same tone of voice. “And moreover Bokkun decided that he had to give us one of his explosive surprises while we were still inside the ruins!”

Bokkun groaned at those words and puffed out, but he carefully kept his mouth shut. The last thing he wanted was to be punished for his bad timing.

The doctor grabbed the CD. “I wouldn’t care even if you had run into that annoying hedgehog,” he said. “The only thing that matters is that now I have the program. I can complete my new creation now!” He let out a belly laugh, gaining a perplexed glance from all the presents.

“Don’t tell me it’s another robot! I’ve seen enough of those!” Rouge exclaimed. “Why don’t you try to get more creative? We’re all tired of those metal toys of yours!”

“Don’t insult my genius, you thief!” He warned. His glasses shone in a dangerous way. “This robot will be my ultimate weapon! I’ll destroy that cocky creature once and for all! Then I’ll start my empire and rule the universe!”

“Tsk, I don’t even waste time to contradict you. After all everybody knows that you’re going to lose. Sonic will kick your fat butt again,” she stated, crossing her arms. “There’s no “ultimate weapon” and there will never be. Well, apart from a certain common acquaintance of ours. But he’s gone, isn’t he?” She stared right at the man’s face, challenging him. She has been fully aware since the beginning that he knew something about that issue, but she had never succeeded in making him spit the truth out. “What a pity.”

“You’re wrong, my dear. Just stay and see, Rouge, I’ll be the one winning this time,” the doctor smirked, ignoring her allusions and showing himself to be more than confident about his plan. He approached the main computer and inserted the CD, starting to key some buttons. “My robot is indestructible. Nothing can damage it! Apart from something that my enemies don’t possess…”

A puzzled looked appeared on the bat’s face. She was starting to get a bad feeling about the whole affair. “And what would that something be?” She questioned suspiciously.

“I shouldn’t be telling you this considering how much fond of that echidna you’ve grown, but, even if you told him, there will be nothing he could do about it,” the man answered. “You see, Rouge, the only power that could destroy my creation is chaos energy. I’ve worked hard for almost a year to find the right alloy, but in the end I made it! Now, since the Master Emerald is still in pieces and the chaos emeralds are scattered in the universe, there’s no way that Sonic and his little friends can fight me!”

“Well, for once I have to confess that I’m really impressed this time, doctor.” She cracked a smile, hiding her growing worry. She hadn’t liked the news. Even if she still kept on her own side, following her own goals, she had grown attached to the blue hedgehog’s gang, especially to Knuckles whom she bothered on daily basis. So she couldn’t help feeling concerned for their safety. If what Eggman was saying was the truth, they would have been in great troubles. She needed to warn them, even only to tell them to be very careful. She approached the mad scientist, her expert eyes fixed on the computer screen. Maybe she could do something to prevent the man from carrying out his plan before it was too late. If she found a way to stop the robot before it was completed or to damage it in some way she would make her friends’ task much easier. “And tell me, when will this robot be ready? I mean, if it’s really as great as you claim, I don’t want to miss the battle for any reason. It caught my interest.”

“Don’t worry, my dear, I’m not going to make a lady wait too much. It would be rude,” the doctor laughed, his voice dripping sarcasm. He pushed another button. “You see, I’ve just finished uploading in my creation’s memory all the data regarding my opponents. It is already ready to go and destroy them- It only misses a fundamental detail!”

Rouge fought hard to keep a blank expression, shocked by the news. Could it be that it was already too late for doing anything? “What…What detail?” She managed to inquire.

“A proper name, of course! This is the best fruit of my brilliant intellect. I must find something appropriated!” He boasted triumphantly, before bringing a hand under his chin and assuming a pensive expression. “How should I call it?”

The bat saw her best chance to flee and give the news to her companions. “Well, let me know when you’re done, doctor. I’d better get going, I still have some things to do. You know, I owe a club now and it keeps me really busy. See ya soon, honeys!” And without waiting for an answer she ran out of the room as fast as she could.

“Don’t you think we should stop her, doctor?” Decoe asked blinking. “She’s surely going to give the news to Sonic and Co.!”

“Ah, let her do whatever she wants. It’s too late for them anyway,” the man mumbled. “Besides, there are more important businesses I need to take care of.”

“Yeah, finding a name for that stupid piece of metal,” Bocoe mumbled rolling his eyes.

“I heard that!” Eggman exploded, pointing the door. “ _You_ are the stupid piece of metal. You _useless_ robots! Now, get out of my way, you are disturbing my brainstorming!”

The three immediately fled, not wanting to suffer his fury. He snorted crossing his arms. He wondered why he still kept them with him. They did nothing but cause troubles and complain to him. They were useful when it came to the low tasks, but he could have easily built more efficient and especially less talkative robots to replace them. Yet, he couldn’t really bring himself to do it. They were the only ones among his creations who had survived during all those years of fighting and he would have lied if he had said that he didn’t care at all about them. But, of course, those thoughts would never leave his mouth. He shook his head. “Those idiots would never understand the greatness of my creation! It will destroy that hedgehog fore…” He stopped midsentence, hit by an idea. “Oh, here is the perfect name!” He approached the controls once again. “Everything is ready! Now rise and do your job, _Destroyer-S_!”

 

Rouge flew quickly above the forest, heading towards the town were Sonic and friends lived. The storm seemed to have finally ended, and she was grateful for it. The rain would have made her task impossible. She needed to warn the blue blur about what was coming and she had to be fast. It wouldn’t take too much time to Eggman to find a stupid name for his weapon. Her muscles were complaining for the sudden efforts, but she ignored them. She was almost there, she could already see the roofs.

Two minutes later she landed in front Tails’s place. She didn’t bother knocking and she burst into the house, finding the two friends on the floor of the living room, busy with some kind of game. They gave her a questioning glance, but she started to talk before one of them could open his mouth and ask what she was doing there.

“Eggman has a new robot and he will be activated it soon! It’s a matter of minutes and…” She started, out of breath, but she couldn’t end the sentence because an explosion made the ground shake. They all looked out of the window to see the smoke rising from the forest.

“I guess this new robot is already here!” Sonic exclaimed happily, hopping on his feet. “Good, finally some healthy action!”

“Sonic, don’t…” The bat tried, but the blue hedgehog was out of her sight before she could warn him. “Ah! That idiot! He doesn’t know in which kind of troubles he is getting himself into!” She growled, pissed off for being ignored. “If that robot kicks his ass I’ll laugh!”

“What are you talking about, Rouge?” Tails questioned seeing her reaction. “What’s so special about this robot? You seemed worried when you arrived here.”

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re more reasonable than that idiot!” she mumbled, before turning serious. “Listen, Tails, Eggman told me that he has created a new alloy to build that robot, an indestructible one that can be damaged only by chaos energy. So no matter how many times Sonic will hit that thing, he can’t destroy it!”

The fox’s eyes grew wide with worried. “That’s bad, really bad. We need to do something. That thing must have a weak point!” He said, biting his lip. “We need to find it. But first we need to warn Sonic of the danger!”

“That’s what I was trying to do! But he’s so careless at times!”

“Don’t get pissed, Rouge. He’s liked that. Let’s follow him now, we don’t have time to waste!”

She nodded, still a bit annoyed, but followed him out of the house and they took off, heading towards the smoke curtain. Rouge allowed herself a smile, seeing that the little genius was almost able to fly at her speed.

“You’ve got faster,” she commented, playfully. Then she sped up. “But you still need to work hard to compete with me!”

“I have no doubt, Rouge!” He answered, with a brief chuckle. “Listen, since you’re faster than me, there’s something else you could do to help us. Go get Knuckles. We’ll surely need his help, Sonic can’t fight alone this time!”

“With pleasure,” she answered smirking and suddenly bending to right.

Tails went straight on and arrived on the battlefield just in time to see Sonic and Eggman yelling at each other. He immediately understood that something wasn’t right. The new robot, a giant anthropomorphic machine, wasn’t aiming specifically for his best friend, but seemed more interested in destroying everything around it.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” The blue hedgehog was shouting, incredulous. “Talk a language that I can understand, Egghead!”

“Ah, you are such an ignorant being! I can’t believe I’m not able to get rid of you!” Hhe man cursed. “What I am trying to say is that there was a problem with the artificial intelligence of Destroyer-S and now he doesn’t answer my commands anymore!”

“So you did a mess, the thing went crazy and now you have no control on it?”

“If you want to put it that way…Yes.”

Sonic dogged a laser beam. “Oh, just wow. You’re the worst, man!”

“Sonic! Be careful, that thing can be damaged only by chaos energy!” Tails shout, approaching them. “And since now not even Eggman can stop it we really are in big troubles…”

The hero stared at his younger companion, completely astonished. Then he turned to face Eggman again. He couldn’t believe it. “I hope one of you can find a way out while I’m distracting that thing because if you don’t we’re all damned!” And with that he jumped on the robot, cursing. “That poor apology for a doctor owes me a lot this time!”


	3. Same old story

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, guys!
> 
> Here is the third chapter! Sorry if I kept you waiting, I hope you didn't mind too much! I think I should be able to update once a week if I don't have any sudden accident!
> 
> Back to the story, the robot's incident is quickly solved, but now Sonic & Co. know that Shadow is back (and Sonic is after him already xD)...How do you think the reunion will be this time? Once again a fight or a more pacific one?
> 
> Thanks a lot to everyone for commenting and favouriting the previous chapters! I really appreciate your interest! I hope you'll like this one too! Let me know what you think!!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 3 – _Same old story_**

Abel looked around, amazed by what he was seeing. The planet was covered by forests for most of its surface and the nature was lively and luxuriant. He had grown up among buildings made of glass and metal, where plants were really rare. Since when he was a child he had always preferred messing up in his little lab to going outside to play and he had never really left the research station after he had been hired at the young age of fifteen years old. Even the few times he had travelled outside the city to go to a meeting or a conference he had never turned his attention to the landscape. His mind was locked among the walls of his beloved laboratory, not interested in anything but theories and experiments. He knew a lot about the theory of life and its forms, but he had never experienced them physically.

That trip around the space had changed everything. They had left the station two months before and had already visited some of the planets in the list. Each of them had fascinated him with its appearance and the culture of its people. He had realised how much he had missed in those years only filled with numbers and data and he was now more than determined to make up for the lost time.

Shadow observed the young scientist dancing around the field where they had landed with their ship. He had got used to that kind of behaviour. Every time they reached a new planet it was always the same show. Besides, he had more important thoughts going on in his mind at the moment. They had finally arrived to Mobius and he still didn’t know what he wanted to do about his former allies.

“Look at him, he’s totally _euphoric_!” Molly chuckled, coming to stand by his side. “He is such a child! I can’t believe he is more than ten years older than me.”

“Scientists are all crazy to some degree. My creator was insane in his own way as well, even before Maria’s death,” he stated in a blank tone. “Besides, Abel is pretty naive for his age. But I can’t blame him. He has spent his life in the safety of his lab, he didn’t saw the horror you and I were forced to face.”

“And it’s better this way. I feel like I can forget all the Metarex had done to me when I’m with him. I can even forget my companions’ betrayal,” she said quietly. “It’s like I can be the young careless girl I should be.”

The black hedgehog glanced at her briefly before turning his attention back to their companion once again. “You didn’t deserve what you have suffered. But I’m positive you’ll be able to rebuild your life completely soon. And Abel will be a great help.”

She turned towards him, surprised by his sudden kind words, but then smiled fondly. Her dark friend had harsh manners, sometimes even rude, but she knew that he cared about them. He just wasn’t used to show affection. “We’d better go and stop him before he gets lost again,” she sighed after a moment of silence. “It has already happened after all.”

“How could I forget that? I spent four hours in the rain looking for him.”

The black creature rolled his eyes in annoyance at the memory. They had landed on a totally arid planet, covered for the most by deserts. The doctor had become fascinated with some kind of strange animal they had met and had run behind it. He and Molly had been distracted, discussing a technical problem of their spaceship, and when they had turned to ask Abel’s opinion he hadn’t been there with them anymore. Moreover, the planet was famous for its torrential spring rains and they had arrived exactly during that season. Shadow had run off to find the man and he had still been looking for him when the storm had started. In the end, he had found the young doctor asleep in a cave. There was no need to say that he had been as pissed off as soaked and after that he had refused to even just speak to his friend for some days.

The orange-haired girl chuckled again at his annoyed expression and ran towards Abel, grabbing him by the arm. “Hey! Try not to disappear again,” she whispered, shooting a meaningful glance to the approaching hedgehog. “You don’t want to make Shadow angry, do you?”

The other shivered, remembering how intimidating the dark creature had been when he had taken him back to the ship. Shadow was distant by nature, and he had got used to his cold ways, but that time his red eyes had totally frightened him. He had even read a murderous intent in them. “You’re right. But don’t worry, I won’t do that ever again if he’s present,” he said with force, but also half-joking. “Never get Shadow the Hedgehog pissed off. Your life could suffer greatly for your mistake!”

“I heard that,” the black hedgehog warned joining them. “Anyway, we should explore the surroundings instead of wasting time.”

“Ah, yeah, I’d forgotten that you’ve actually never been here,” the young scientist exclaimed, extracting a little device from his pocket. He pressed a button and a hologram representing the planet appeared. “We are here.” He pointed a little flashing light on the map. “The nearest town is about at ten kilometres from this field. We could go head there.”

“And once we get there we could ask for more information, also about Shadow’s companions, if he agrees,” Molly nodded, looking at the creature. “What do you say?”

“Whatever. Let’s reach the town. Once arrived I’ll tell you what I want to do,” the curt answer was. “We are here firstly to work, don’t forget it.”

The girl opened her mouth to retort but she was prevent from speaking by a big explosion, soon follow by another one, that almost sent the two humans on the ground. “What’s going on?!” She yelled, instinctively grabbing the young scientist’s arm to keep her balance.

“The Doctor…He is up to it once again,” Shadow mumbled with a small smirk.

“Come again, Shadow?” Abel questioned him, looking around nervously. Then something caught his attention. The body of a giant robot was rising over the trees, shooting laser beams all around. “What the hell is that?!” He shouted both scared and amazed, causing his friends to look at the thing in turn.

Molly let out a surprised sound, while Shadow glanced at the two. He had no intention of letting them get involved in one of the madman’s crazy plans. And there was only a way to do it: destroying whatever machine he had built that time to try to conquer the world. “You two stay here and wait. I’ll take care of it,” he commanded calmly. His opponent didn’t seem so strong in spite of his dimensions. A chaos blast and it would be just a memory. For a moment he remembered about Abel’s warning not to use his powers, but he chased the thought away, gripping at the little silvery pendant that hung around his neck. The energy still stored in it should have been more enough. “Grab what you need from the ship and prepare yourself for the journey. I’ll be back in few minutes.” And without adding anything else he disappeared in a black blur, leaving the other two astonished.

 

Sonic jumped away, panting lightly, going to stand at Knuckles’s side. That thing was really strong, he couldn’t deny it. For that reason he had been glad when Rouge and the echidna had joined the battle. They had given him the time to catch his breath. He shot a quick glance at Tails and Eggman that were discussing in front of what he imagined being the robot’s project. It had taken all his best friend’s patience to convince their enemy to show him those schemes. Now he only hoped that the two could find a way to stop the machine.

He mentally cursed his eternal opponent’s crazy plans once again. Even when he made a mistake and messed his own things up, he was able to cause troubles, maybe even more than when his projects actually worked. And, of course, it was his duty to stop him and fix the consequences of his evil actions. He usually didn’t really mind it, but at times it just was too much. Until he was the only one getting involved, he could tolerate the scientist’s games, but it pissed him off when his friends got injured because of them. That was something he couldn’t accept.

“Sonic, watch out!” The bat warned, bringing his attention back to their current opponent, just in time to see a laser beam heading straight towards him. But before he could do anything, he found himself on the ground with the echidna on the top of him.

“Will you just at least stay focused, you cocky idiot?” The latter attacked him, quickly getting up. He didn’t understand how the blue blur could get distracted in the middle of a battle. “It would be annoying if you got shot only because you were _spacing out_!”

“Sorry about that, Knux!” He chuckled grabbing the hand that was offered to him and ignoring the look of disapproval on his friend’s face. “And thanks for saving me!”

“Whatever.” Knuckles glanced at the robot, pensive. “That metal monster is really a great bore. I punched him with all my strength but I didn’t even leave a scratch on him!”

“Are you deaf, echidna? I told you before! And more than once,” Rouge exclaimed, landing behind them. “Only chaos energy can harm it. There’s nothing we can do without it. We are powerless against it at the moment!”

“What do you suggest? That we pray for a miracle? Don’t make me laugh, bat girl,” the red creature snapped. “We need to find a solution. We can’t just stand and watch it _destroy_ the planet! This time I’ll really kick the doctor’s ass once we’re done, and hard!”

“Don’t lose your temper, Knuckles,” the hedgehog tried to calm him down. He understood too well his frustration, but getting all worked up wouldn’t help them to get out alive. “I’m sure that Tails will come up with something. We just need to hold on.”

“I hope that he hurries up then!” The other growled before launching himself against their opponent once again. “I’m tired of that moving piece of metal!”

“He’s always too impulsive,” the bat commented shaking her head. “It will get him into a lot of troubles one day or the other.”

“Don’t worry, old Knux can take care of himself,” Sonic grinned, watching the echidna repeatedly hitting their opponent hard body and almost sending it on the ground. “His stubbornness is a quality, not a flaw!”

“If you say so…” She muttered, waving her hand. She wanted to sound sceptical, but her eyes said otherwise. “Let’s lend him a hand with that robot!”

“Sure! There’s no way I let him enjoy all the fun,” he exclaimed, exchanging glances with the thief before jumping on their enemy’s again.

Shadow observed the battle from the top of a cliff not so far away. He had immediately noticed that all the attacks of his former allies were useless against the doctor’s creation. And it wasn’t that hard to understand that the machine was totally out of control. He could see Eggman’s form standing aside with the fox boy, probably trying to find a flaw in his own project. He scoffed, not knowing if he should feel amused or pissed off by the scene. A century could pass, but some things would never change. If it was good or bad, it was hard to say.

He studied his former companions’ movements. They were exactly as he remembered them, still as active and powerful as they had shown themselves to be in the other dimension first and during the war against the Metarex later. They had even got slight better in that year and half. His red eyes focused in particular on the blue hedgehog. He had to admit that the thought of fighting against him again was tempting. After all Sonic was one of the few who could stand his ground in a fair fight. Not to mention the fact that he was the only one whom Shadow had ever allowed to team up with him during a battle. They had saved two universes together, and even he couldn’t ignore that. He had come to think of the blue one as a rival more than a real enemy. They had fought each other many times, and he had even tried to kill his counterpart, but he had done that only because the other was standing in his way and refused to move aside. He didn’t wish for him to die, unless it was strictly necessary. He would never admit it, but a good fight with the blue hero had sometimes made his day in the past.

He shook his head, coming back to reality. He couldn’t waste his time with those stupid thoughts, there was something that required his assistance. “I’ve seen enough,” he muttered under his breath and stretched his arms in front of himself, hands opened. “Chaos…blast!”

His pendant vibrated and lit up, and a ray of golden power left his palms, going straight towards the robot. The black hedgehog stumbled backwards, caught off guard by the recoil and by the sudden loss of energy. He regained his balance just in time to see his attack hitting the machine and making it explode in a million of pieces. That wasn’t exactly what he was planning to do. He just wanted to make a hole in it and leave the rest to Sonic and his gang. His mind raced, quickly analysing what had just happened. Now he really understood what Abel had meant when he had warned him about his inability to control his chaos powers without the Rings. He wasn’t able to decide the amount of energy he used and the intensity of the attacks. He had been lucky that his pendant didn’t have the same energy of an emerald or he would have risked blowing up everything and everyone in the area.

He clenched his fists in mild anger and turned away from the scene. He was done there, he needed to get back to his companions. He didn’t want to be noticed and, moreover, he was sure that his friends had gotten anxious about him after seeing the damage he had caused. He could almost hear the young scientist rambling about the fact he had told him that something similar was going to happen. And he hated the fact that he would have been damn right.

 

“What the heck has just happened?!” Knuckles cursed, emerging from under a pile of metal and dust. “The damn thing exploded out of the blue!”

“Well, it did us a big favour,” Rouge commented, landing totally unharmed on his left. Then she turned towards where Eggman and Tails stood. “Are you two big brains OK?”

“Yeah…I guess,” The fox stuttered, covered head to tail with dirt, his eyes wide with surprise. It was clear that he wasn’t expecting the sudden explosion at all. “Somebody cares to tell me how you did it?”

“They didn’t do anything, fox boy!” The madman interjected, still too astonished to add some smart remark about the whole situation. “My poor creature just blew up by itself! Maybe there was something wrong in its circuits after all…”

“Don’t get too depressed, Eggster! I don’t think you made some error in your calculation,” Sonic chuckled crossing his fingers behind his head, a pleased glimpse shining in his green eyes. “Somebody destroy your creation…And I bet I know who he was!” He turned towards Tails and winked at him as if he was saying: “I told ya!”

“Wait, Sonic! You can’t be talking about…?” Knuckles exclaimed incredulous. “I can’t believe that guy is back _again_. After being left with no energy and being caught in the middle of the hugest explosion I’ve ever seen!”

Rouge giggled, gaining a nasty look from the red creature. “Oh, I knew he wasn’t gone for real. That would have been too predictable!”

“Yeah, it could be…But I don’t get why he destroyed my poor robot!” The doctor complained. “He never gets involved in situations that don’t concern him.”

“Well, your “poor robot” was going to blow up the planet. This had to concern him since he’s here as well,” the fox pointed out. “I can’t believe it…It’s always the same scene. He comes out from nowhere every time we are unable to face the situation! Like the first time we met him while fighting the Metarex.”

“Tails’s right! Anyway…” The blue hedgehog crossed his arms. “The battle is over, everybody should go home and rest. And, Egghead, next time try to take a hold of your toys if you don’t want to reign on nothing. That was awfully close! If Shadow hadn’t arrived to help us, we’d have had a huge problem.”

“Don’t use that arrogant tone with me, hedgehog! Next time I’ll destroy you!” The mad scientist shouted at him while soaring with his little usual mean of transport. “The war is not over!”

“Yeah, in your dreams!” He yelled back, watching his eternal enemy disappear. Then he turned towards his friends. “That was fun, I have to admit that! But maybe it was a bit too dangerous for a game, don’t you think?”

“That wasn’t a game in the first place!” The echidna exclaimed. “We could have gotten killed if it hadn’t been for…for…”

“Shadow?” Rouge offered with an amused smirk.

“Ah, whatever! I can’t believe that I owe my life to that killjoy once again!” Knuckles crossed his arms and started to walk away. “I’m going back to the Master Emerald. I don’t want to risk bumping into any other _revived_ hedgehog for today!”

“Oh, _Knux_ , what’s wrong? You don’t like Shadow?” The bat teased flying after him. “Are you envious because he’s much stronger than you?”

“Shut up, bat girl! Don’t make such silly assumptions! I could battle that black hedgehog any time and teach him a lesson!”

“Oh, really? Why don’t you show me then? Let’s go after him!”

“Ugh…Now? I…I don’t have time for something so stupid right now! The Master Emerald is still in pieces, I need to watch on it.”

“I could do it for you while you fight, honey!”

“Don’t you dare to go near it, you thief!”

“Oh, Knuckles! You are no fun!”

Tails and Sonic watched the scene doing their best not to laugh at their red friend’s short temper. Those two argued like a married couple at times. The fox shot a glance to his best friend who was now tapping his fingers on his crossed arms, immediately figuring out where his mind was.

“You should hurry up if you want to catch him,” he stated with a small smile that widen when he saw the hedgehog’s taken aback expression. “Come on, you know what I’m talking about. Shadow is practically as fast as you are. Who knows when you’ll see him next time.”

“You caught me, pal!” Sonic admitted scratching his ear. “You don’t mind going home alone, do you? I’ll be back for dinner.”

“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine,” Tails nodded pointing the forest. “Now go! Good luck!”

“Thanks! I’ll see you later, buddy!” The blue blur exclaimed before speeding on and disappearing among the trees, heading towards where the attack had come from.

The young genius stood where he was for a while, musing about what had happened that day. Firstly, he had found out that his best friend was keeping their lost ally’s Rings, then Eggman’s unexpected attack, and finally the quickly but meaningful appearance of Shadow himself. A day full of events.

He sighed and started to walk back to his workshop, wondering if he would really have to cook dinner also for his older companion. Knowing Sonic, he was sure that he wasn’t going to come home until he had found his black rival. Should he prepare something also for the other hedgehog? Shadow would never accept an invitation for dinner, especially from Sonic’s part, but once again he couldn’t be sure of what would happen. The most logical thing to do was waiting until somebody, whoever he or they would be, came and knocked to his door. Then he would act depending on the situation. They had plenty of food, so dinner wasn’t a problem.

He chuckled a bit, imagining his blue companion speeding among the trees. He seemed so excited about having the chance to challenge Shadow again, therefore Tails wouldn’t have been surprised if he had crashed into a trunk because of his hurry. He knew that he should have been a little worried about the result of the encounter-clash, but he couldn’t bring himself to be. The way in which the dark hedgehog had literally broken into pieces Eggman’s creation could lead to think that he was in a quite bad mood, but after all this was Shadow and he was never in good spirits. Besides, he was sure that Sonic could keep him at a bay and that the Ultimate Life Form had no intention of hurting his rival too badly, no matter how many threats he threw at him. There was something that he had learnt while fighting at the black creature’s side, and it was that he never caused harm without a good reason.

A particular episode that had happened during the war against the Metarex came into his mind. The fox shivered at the memory on how persistently their former ally had chased down him and Cosmo with the purpose of killing her for being an unaware spy of their enemies. Well, maybe Shadow’s definition of “good reasons to kill” was different from his.

He shook his head slightly. He didn’t want to think about those moments. The dark hedgehog was dangerous, everybody knew it, but it didn’t mean he was evil…right? Of course not. Still…

He sighed again, now cursing Sonic for his carelessness. Maybe he really needed to be concerned about his friend’s health. He should have at least taken some kind of precaution before running away towards the unknown. Now it was a bit too late. The blue blur lost his already small common sense every time he saw a challenge and simply rushed towards it without considering the possible consequences. The thought made Tails smile a bit. The strong self-confidence and the bravery were two of the qualities he appreciated the most in his older companion, maybe because they were the ones he once lacked almost completely. Since they had met, he had become more mature and independent, more sure of himself, but he still didn’t possess the confidence which he wished for. But he was still young and, besides, knowing that Sonic thought highly of him and of his potential reassured him a lot.

The fox found himself standing in front of the door of his house and blinked. He hadn’t realised that he had already arrived home. He was completely lost in his thought. He shrugged and went inside. It was time to get back to work. Focusing on his projects was the perfect way to kept him distracted until Sonic got home.

 

“ _What_?! Your attack was “a little too powerful” than you were expecting?” Abel exclaimed still shocked by the huge burst that had taken place in front of his eyes. “You burned down the whole thing! And it wasn’t _small_! What were you thinking w…?”

“Doctor, don’t. I don’t want to hear your “I warned you, Shadow” speech,” the black hedgehog interrupted, almost twitching his eye in annoyance. He hardly showed his emotions, but he had learnt to be less closed up when he was around his two companions, especially Molly, letting them at least know when he was pissed off or if he was in a quite good mood. “The chaos blast was the quicker way to get rid of that machine. It was completely out of control. I _had_ to do something.”

“Yeah, but you risked to blow up us all as well!” The young man protested again. “I fully trust you and your abilities, you know it, but this isn’t something you can control and somehow fix! It’s some kind of flaw in your atomic structure and…”

“ _Flaw_? What do you mean by _flaw_?” Shadow immediately stopped his steps at the word, feeling insulted. He crossed his arms, standing stiff on the ground of the dirt road they had taken to reach the nearest town. Despite his calm appearances, his voice was lower and darker than usual. “I’m the Ultimate Life Form. There are no _flaws_ in my structure. And I’ll show you. I’ll find a way to use chaos energy without losing control and without those Rings!”

The scientist put a hand in front of his mouth, mentally cursing for his awful choice of words, taking a step back. Molly shot her friends a worried look and decided to intervene before the situation could get worse. She was sure that nothing bad would happen, but she would have lied if she had said that the hedgehog wasn’t scaring her.

“Come on, guys, don’t fight! It’s so stupid,” she said calmly, stepping between the two. She firstly spoke to the man. “Abel, Shadow can take care of himself. He has consciously taken the risk and he has done it to protect us. He’d never put our lives in danger, not even by mistake.” Then she turned towards the dark creature. “But, Shadow, you can’t deny that you have been a bit too careless. Don’t get mad, Abel is only concerned about your well-being, as I am. And you know he isn’t good with words when science isn’t concerned. I’m sure that you’ll be able to use chaos energy without the Rings one day. But, until then, you must be more careful when you don’t wear them, OK?” She crossed her arms. “So, are we done? Can we go back being the team we are and go to that town?”

The two males nodded, Abel a bit shaken and Shadow still reluctant. But the girl’s speech had persuaded them both that what had happened wasn’t worth a fight. They would have regretted it later. Luckily for them Molly had once again shown her natural leadership skills and had brought them back to reason.

“You’re right, Molly. I’m sorry for my outburst, Shadow. I shouldn’t have said those things,” the young man said with a nervous smile. “Forgive me.”

“You were only stating the truth,” the creature conceded, fixing his red eyes into the other’s grey ones. “You did nothing so wrong, doc.” The nickname, that he only used when he was in his best mood, released all the tension that had filled the air until that moment. “Let’s go.”

Molly smiled cheerfully, starting to walk next to him, and the doctor hurried up to follow them, going to stand by their black companion’s other side. They were more than glad to see that the creature had dropped his nasty ways and had gone back to his usual behaviour. Dealing with him was still hard at times, but they had concluded long before that Shadow’s friendship was worth the trouble.


	4. Never solved matters

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, guys!
> 
> I'm back after a week as I promised last time! I've been quick :D
> 
> Well, in this chapter we have some flashbacks (be prepared, there are going to be a lot!) about Shadow, Molly and Abel. And of course Sonic and Shadow finally meet again! A strange kind of reunion for them, but things are different from the past...Will it be the beginning of a new kind of relationship? Who knows!
> 
> Thanks a lot to everyone for reading! Please, read and review! All comments are more than appreciated!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: the story will contain shonen-ai (Shadow x Sonic, Sonadow, meaning male x male), if you don't like, don't read, please! Rating is for future reference to violence!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.

**Chapter 4 – _Never solved matters_**

_Eighteen months before, research station…_

The room was completely white, apart from two details: the medical equipment and the figure connected to it. The walls, the ceiling, the floor, the bed, the sheets, everything else were snow white. It almost troubled the eyes of the visitors. Not that there were any, apart from the doctor who was taking care of the unconscious patient and the young girl who came in and out for most part of the day. She had been the one who had found the creature fluctuating in the space, together with many rocks and other remains of goodness-knew-what. Try to imagine her huge surprise when she had realised that she knew well that black and red broken figure.

As Molly entered the white room, her eyes filled with sadness. Abel, the doctor who took care of the case, had said that he still didn’t know if and when Shadow would emerge from his coma. It could take days or it could take years. He really couldn’t get to understand the strange structure of the hedgehog’s body. It was totally different from everything he had seen before. The only thing that he could do was monitoring his conditions day and night.

She sighed, sitting down on a chair next to the bed. After having left Cascade as a result of her people’s betrayal, she had travelled around the galaxy, trying her best not to get caught by the Metarex, without a real destination. Then, one day, after three weeks of pointless wandering, she had been caught in the middle of an asteroid storm and her ship had crashed on that planet, near the city where the research station was located. Some of the inhabitants had found her by chance during a walk in the forest and had immediately brought her to the hospital, where she had spent about a week recovering. While there she had got to know that the planet was still free from the Metarex’s invasion and had had her first encounter with the advanced technology that its people had been able to develop. At first this had led her to believe that she could convince them to use it against her enemies, but soon she had discovered that the planet had always lived in peace and, apart from some laser guns used by the local police, its people knew nothing about weapons. So she had had to give up and she had decided that maybe it was better that way. She was glad that a world untouched by war still existed.

Her meeting with Abel had also been almost fortuitous. At the time the doctor had just finished one of his projects and, as soon as he had heard about a girl fallen from the space, he had run to the hospital to see her. The two had quickly become close friends and the young man had taken Molly with him at the station once she had been discharged. Her bond with the scientist had been the reason that had stopped her from going back to her wandering. He had offered her the chance to have a new life and a new place to call “home”, and he had in the end persuaded her to stay, even if not without effort. He wasn’t a popular person, as the girl had discovered quickly, because of his great brilliance, which made him seemed a bit too crazy, and his weird manners. She had been the first person to genuinely like him after a long time. He felt the need to protect her and to hand her a new chance to be happy after all she had gone through. The unexpected but more than welcomed news of the Metarex’s defeat had been the final push for Molly, who had agreed to live there with her new companion. Thanks to her skills, she had quickly also got a job at the station as a pilot responsible for the trials of the new space vehicles.

Her life had become peaceful, but not devoid of challenges, again. Then, two months before, she had found Shadow during one of the tests. It hadn’t taken her too much effort to convince Abel to treat him, exploiting the scientist’s natural curiosity and the strong affection that he had for her. And now there she was, praying for her dark saviour to wake up.

“Because you will wake up, Shadow. I’m sure you will,” she whispered softly, briefly touching the gloved hand set upon the sheets.

There was a light knock on the opened door. “Molly?” Abel called quietly.

She turned to face him. “Yes?”

“It’s almost lunch time. I was wondering if you wanted to come and eat something with me,” the young man said with a light smile. “You’ve been up all night and you skipped breakfast. You need to eat something or you’ll get weak.”

“I’m not hungry actually,” she answered, tormenting her hands. “And I’m not sleepy either. It’s alright, I’m fine, really.”

“I don’t think so.” He approached her and put a hand on her shoulder. “Listen, Molly, I know you are worried for Shadow, but starving yourself won’t help. I’m sure that if he was awake he would tell you to go to your lodgings and rest.”

She gave a weak grin. “I know but I can’t help it…” Her gaze went back to the sleeping figure. She was just asking for one last, small miracle. She had lost everything, but she had also been given a new chance. If the universe had offered her, who had done nothing special for it, such a big opportunity, it would have been extremely unfair if fate had let its saviour die or spend his whole existence in a coma. Shadow deserved to live.

In that very moment, one of the creature’s eyes twitched. She blinked, shocked, and looked at Abel to see if she had just imagined it. But from the surprised expression on his face she immediately understood that it had happened for real. Under their gazed the dark creature started to stir, moving all his limbs as if he was checking that they were still there, and then lift his eyelids. Crimson globes focused on the two, still clouded by the long sleep.

“Shadow! You are awake!” Molly screamed, jumping on her feet, pure joy invading her chest. Her prayers had been heard.

The hedgehog blinked a few time, trying to clear his eyes, and slowly got in a seated position. ‘Shadow?’ He thought confused. ‘Is that…my name?’ He observed the living beings that were standing in front of him, trying to recollect some information about who they were and where he was. But his memory was completely empty. ‘Maria…’ The name crossed his mind. ‘Could it be the name of this girl?’ He wondered, focusing on the orange-haired figure. ‘No, it’s not her…But then…’ He blinked again and finally spoke, leaving the other two completely astonished: “Who the hell are you?” His hands clung on his quills. “And, first of all, who am _I_?”

 

_Present time, Mobius…_

Sonic ran faster and faster among the trees, trying to feel Shadow’s presence and to locate him. He could sense a light trace, but it was so small that he didn’t really know where it came from. So he just let his instinct guide him. It had never failed him after all. He let out a small laugh. That fake hedgehog brought him troubles even when he wasn’t involved in his business. He was glad that he had saved them from that robot, but he wished that the other had stayed at least for the time to say hello. But, after all, if he had done it, it wouldn’t have been the Shadow they knew.

Suddenly the forest became sparse and it opened on a big field. He walked towards the middle, observing the surroundings. There were strange grooves in the grass, as if some kind of big vehicle had landed there. On his left a road that led to his hometown could be seen. He crossed his arms, thinking hard. Shadow had gone lost in the space, so he surely had come on Mobius with the help of some sort of spaceship. But why using such a big one? Maybe he wasn’t alone? He raised an eyebrow at the thought. That sounded strange. The black hedgehog didn’t love company, so why joining somebody else? He was sure that finding a ship just for himself wouldn’t have been a problem for him. If there was someone with him it was because Shadow had allowed them to come. But the question was still why he would have done such a thing.

Sonic shrugged. Shadow’s ways of thinking were and maybe would always be a mystery for him. There was only a way to discover the truth. Find the said dark creature and ask him. A small satisfied grin appeared on his face and he raced towards the town, following the dirt road. His target was near, he had no doubt.

 

_Fifteen months before, research station…_

Shadow cursed silently, rubbing his temples in the vain attempt to sooth his headache. Three months had passed since he had woken up from his coma, finding himself in a bed in the undergrounds of an alien research station. He had apparently survived the explosion and Molly, the girl from Cascade whom reminded him of Maria, had saved him. At first he had no memory of his past and even of his identity, but the doctor who was taking care of him had helped him to remember, thanks to some kind of strange technology they had on that place. The problem was that every time a memory came back it brought with it a huge pain in his head that could last for hours. Nothing could be done to avoid the unpleasant side effect. He had to hold on and wait for it to go away.

The time at the ARK after his creation had been the first thing he had started to remember. The pleasant memories came back during the day together with the migraines, while the bad ones emerged in the form of frightening and cruelly realistic nightmares that had turned his nights into a hell for almost a month. Then he had recalled the war against the Metarex, which also meant finally getting who Molly was and remembering Sonic, Rouge, Eggman and the rest of the Mobians. The lasts had been the ones about his first awakening and the ARK accident. He still didn’t remember everything, but his flashbacks were becoming rarer and rarer, meaning that the picture was almost complete. For the first time after Maria’s death he could say he knew every details of his past. The awful migraines were a small price compared to that.

He got up from the small chair where he had been sitting and approached Abel, who was writing a report for his boss. In those three months he had been somehow promoted by the scientist from “patient” to “personal assistant”. The thing wasn’t official but still the young man’s colleagues seemed to have acknowledged his new role at the station, even if everybody still referred to him as the “alien of the research station”.

The doctor lifted his gaze from the computer screen. “How are you doing, Shadow?” He asked, noting the slight pained winced on the hedgehog’s face.

“Fine, apart from this damn headache,” the latter answered, rubbing his temples once again. “But I can deal with it.”

“I’m sorry for the inconvenient. But this is the safer and faster way to get your memory back,” Abel smiled apologetically at him. “But don’t worry, it will be over soon. Do you want some medication to ease the pain?”

“No. I hate that kind of things. Growing up as a lab product made me sick and tired of meds and vitamins,” he snorted, crossing his arms. “I prefer the pain.”

“As you wish! If you change your mind just let me know and I’ll get you something,” the man chuckled at his stubbornness. “Listen. I’m almost done with the report. Molly asked me if I want to go shopping with her when I’m finished. Do you want to come with us? Some fresh air would be good for you.”

“I don’t have anything better to do, so I guess I can join you,” he agreed. “Even if I don’t like crowded place.”

The other’s face lit up. “Great! So, give me five more minutes and we can go.”

Shadow gave a brief nod and went back to his chair. He held back a snort. He was really getting soft, he found hard to say no whenever his two new companions asked him something. But there was nothing he could do about it. The research station reminded him of his life at the ARK. The similarity between Maria and Molly increased everyday from his point of view, even if the two girls had different personalities, and Abel somehow reminded him of Gerald Robotnik. For the first time after Maria’s death he felt safe and almost at home.

 

_Present time, Mobius…_

Shadow stopped abruptly, turning to look at the road they had left behind. His two companions glanced at him, taken aback by that sudden change of attitude, and they didn’t fail to notice that their dark friend’s body had become tensed, as if he was ready for a battle.

“Is something wrong, Shadow?” Molly asked, a bit worried, following his gaze, but she couldn’t see anything on the horizon. “Are we in danger?”

“It’s nothing you have to worry about,” he answered calmly, but his body language didn’t change. “We have guests. An old acquaintance of mine, specifically.”

“Yeah?” Abel could have sworn that he had seen a small smirk appearing on the creature’s face, and that fact didn’t reassure him at all. “Who is it?”

“You’ll see when he reaches us,” the cryptic answer was.

The three stood in silence, waiting for the mysterious “guest” to show himself. In the end something appeared before them, moving so fast that it left a trail of dust behind it. The thing came to an abrupt stop at about three meters from them, revealing to be a blue hedgehog who looked a lot like the dark one.

The two creatures stared in each other eyes for some moments, then the new comer grinned almost triumphantly and spoke: “Hey, Shadow! It’s been a while, isn’t it? How come that you haven’t invite us to your welcome back party?” His tone was playful. “But I’m not so surprised. After all you’re just like that. Coming out from nowhere, sacrificing yourself to save the world, disappearing again. Oh, did I mention losing your memory? You never change.”

“Nor do you, _Faker,_ ” Shadow retorted coldly. “You’re the same cocky idiot I left more than a year and half ago.”

“Oh, you remember everything this time? I’m glad!” Sonic commented, a small hint of relief in his voice. “I was worried about having to explain everything to you again. Especially because you wouldn’t have listened and would have just tried to _kill_ me again!”

“I remember everything since my creation now, including, unfortunately for me, _you,_ ” the black hedgehog stated, with a trace of sarcasm. “Consider yourself lucky.”

“Oh, I know that deep down in your icy cold heart you love me!” The other teased with a smirk. “But I’m glad to see that you haven’t changed. Always the old, dark, surly Shadow!”

“Tsk. Good for you. Now, out of my way,” he commanded. “I’m not here to play with you. So…”

“You must be Sonic!” Molly interrupted enthusiastically. “I was looking forward to meeting you. Shadow mentioned you almost as often as he talks about Maria!”

“Molly! Shut up!” Shadow growled, shooting her a nasty glare. The last thing he wanted was to let the girl embarrass him in front of his rival. “Don’t talk nonsense!”

“Come on, Shadow! She was just trying to have a nice chat,” Abel interjected, trying to calm him down. He had understood from his dark friend’s short tales that the two hedgehogs weren’t in good terms with each other, especially from the Ultimate Life Form’s part. “Don’t get mad at her. Besides, she is telling the tru…”

“I’m warning you too, Abel.” He stopped the man before he could conclude his speech. “No more _nonsense_. Have I made myself clear?”

“It’s never a good sign when he uses my first name,” the scientist whined, grabbing Molly’s arm as a protection. “We made him angry again!”

“Easy, _Shads_! They’re telling nothing new to me,” Sonic laughed, but internally frowned. Shadow was acting extremely harshly with his two companions, but from the way they had spoken to him he had got the feeling that he usually behaved differently with them. Besides, his rival had pronounced their names without a particular tone, as if he was used to it. And considering he was Shadow that meant a lot. “Anyway, I’m not here to waste your time, even if I wouldn’t mind go for a race with you. I have something that belongs to you at home.”

“And what would that be?” The dark hedgehog questioned suspiciously. “And don’t call me “Shads” ever again.”

“Your Rings!” He answered cheerfully, crossing his arms and ignoring his curt tone. “I found them after the explosion, while I was looking for Cosmo. You always lose them at some point, don’t you? I thought I should have taken care of them until your return.”

“Shadow, that’s great!” Abel exclaimed, regaining his natural enthusiasm. “We’ll solve our problems if you get them back.”

“It’s true,” Molly agreed nodding in approval. “This way we all will be safer, Abel will stop scolding you and you could start that training to be finally able to get rid of them once and for all. It’s perfect!”

The black creature put on a pensive expression, while the blue one raised an eyebrow, clearly not understanding what the three were talking about. He wasn’t sure of what they were referring to, but he had grasped that those rings had to be much more important than he had thought.

“If you follow me I can give them back immediately,” he offered. “I live in the same town you seem to be heading for, so it doesn’t even interfere with your schedule.”

The last sentence was clearly directed to Shadow, who, feeling his friends’ expecting eyes on him, just shrugged. “It’s the most logical choice. We’ll go with him. But only for the Rings.” He turned and started to walk again without waiting for an answered.

Molly winked at the blue blur, who gave her and the scientist the thumbs up, and then they followed the black creature. Sonic eyed curiously the two who he presumed to be some sort of human beings. They had showed themselves to be quite sociable and cheerful, not exactly the kind of people you would expect as his rival’s companions. He needed to investigate.

“So, you seem to know everything about me but I’ve never met you before,” he started. “I just grasped your names.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Sorry about that!” Abel answered, smiling a bit. “The whole story is quite long so let us give you the short version for now. I’m Abel and I’m a scientist from the nearest galaxy to this one. I was given the task to classify the inhabitants of some of the planets in this part of the universe and I decided to take Molly and Shadow with me. She is our pilot and takes care of the ship, while he…Well, let’s say he’s my assistant.”

“Assistant, uh?” The hero repeated, shooting a glance at Shadow who kept walking in front of them, pretending not to hear what they were saying. “So you guys came to study us and the other aliens around here. Sounds fun!”

“It is! Even if we had some accidents during the trip…But Shadow is also with us for that,” the orange-haired girl chuckled. “Anyway, I’m Molly. I met Shadow during the war against the Metarex. They destroyed my planet and my people. I’m the only survivor.” Her voice filled with sadness at the memory but she immediately forced herself to smile again. “My ship crashed on Abel’s planet more than two years ago and I decided to live there. I work as a pilot for the research station and I was the one who found Shadow after the battle a year and half ago.”

“I see. So you two are his new companions,” the blue hedgehog said slowly. “And tell me, does he act as a complete jerk with you too?” At that remark Shadow’s shoulders tensed and he couldn’t help but notice. ‘Gotcha,’ he thought amused. Then went on: “He’s never been really nice with me and my friends. Always growling at us to leave him alone, even trying to kill us at times. He didn’t behave with Egghead either, even if he was sort of working for him. Oh, and they way he treated his own teammates! I’ll never understand how Rouge can put up with him.”

“Really?” Molly sounded surprised. “We know that Shadow had a bad temper, but I’ve never thought he could be that bad. I don’t say he is usually nice, quite the contrary, but he respects and cares for us!”

“Are we talking about the same hedgehog?” Sonic asked, clearly to tease his dark counterpart, but the two humans seemed not to understand his goal. “It sounds so odd to me…”

“Of course we are! And, for the record, I think _you_ are the one who is exaggerating the whole thing,” Abel exclaimed, coming in defence of his friend. “He may not have a strict moral, but he still has some principles.”

“Will you two stop letting him have his way with you?” The black hedgehog interjected, turning around. He had heard enough. “He is messing with your heads, don’t you see it?” He had to put an end to that farce, even if it meant playing along with his rival. He couldn’t allow the faker to tease him and his companions that much. His crimson eyes met emerald one. “Haven’t you mentioned a race before, fake hedgehog?”

“Feeling competitive now, Shadow?” Sonic asked with a grin holding his cold gaze. “That’s the part of you I like the most. Let’s race! Down to this road, across the town and then straight to the cliff. How does it sound?”

“It sounds like you are going to lose, Faker,” Shadow answered smirking in turn. “You can’t win against me.”

“We’ll see that, Mr. Ultimate Life Form!” The other retorted cockily and taking some steps to stand by his counterpart’s side. “Speed is my field, don’t forget it!”

The two creatures exchanged glances and briefly nodded before speeding up at the same time and disappearing for the view of the two humans, who kept staring at the point where they were only a few seconds before.

“What has just happened?” Abel asked, still surprised by the sudden departure.

“Old rivalry, I guess,” Molly answered, patting his back. “Let them have their fun. They both love running. Maybe this will keep them from fighting for real. Shadow was getting quite pissed off. _Again_ …”

“Yeah, you are right…” He nodded slowly. “I just hope that nothing happens.”

She gave him a questioning look. “What are you talking about?”

“Well, you probably hadn’t noticed because Shadow is a good actor, but I’ve learnt to understand his body language too well to be fooled. He still hasn’t completely recovered from using the chaos blast,” he explained. “I’m a bit worried about it.”

“Do you think he could faint for the lack of energy?” The girl asked, now really concerned. “I mean, come on, it’s just a run!”

“Not actually fainting, he isn’t _that_ weak, but if he overdoes there’s the risk that he ends up exhausting himself to his limits. And you know what happens when he does.”

“Oh no! I haven’t thought about that. What do we do?”

The young doctor crossed his arms. “Unfortunately there’s nothing we can do. I should have stopped him when I could. But I didn’t have the time…Let’s just reach the town and hope that everything will be alright. I trust his self-control. The real problem is that he doesn’t know anything about this small detail…”

“We need to tell him as soon as he comes back. We can’t risk again like the other times. I told you more than once! Until we were at the station it was fine, you had the means to control him, but now other people could get involved!”

“I know and I apologise for delaying, but try to understand me, I don’t even know what happens to him! I don’t have an explanation for the phenomenon!”

Molly took a deep breath. “I’m not mad at you, Abel. Just…Let’s talk to him later. We tell him what happens, we don’t strictly need to give him a scientific explanation. It’s just to prevent the problem from happening again.”

“Alright, we’ll do it. He’ll get mad at me because we waited so long before informing him! Oh, I hope he won’t stop talking to me again…”

“Don’t think about it. We’ll survive that! The important thing is that everybody, including Shadow himself, will be safe around him.”

“Yeah, I guess you are right…”

The two started to walk again, each lost in their own thoughts. Abel’s mind was back to the data he had collected and was desperately trying to figure out what led to the inconvenient. Molly’s considerations were much darker. She didn’t understand the meaning of all that. What was the purpose of it? The doctor had told her that it had something to do with self-preservation, but she wasn’t convinced. Fighting for your own survival was a thing, but… _that_ was a completely different story. Maybe that famous Dr. Eggman whom their dark friend often mentioned could have helped them understand the true nature of the problem. They could pay him a visit after getting the Rings back. He lived on that planet as well after all. She lifted her gaze towards the still clouded sky. ‘Please, Shadow, forgive us for keeping you in the dark about it. And be careful, my friend!’


	5. Shades of rivalry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!!
> 
> Sorry, I'm a little late this time! I spent last weekend away from home and with no computer!!
> 
> Anyway, back to the story! In this chapter we could see something related to what Molly and Abel were talking about in the previous one. What's wrong with Shadow? What is that black energy?  
> Tails is back in the picture, but will get to see the whole gang soon! Shadow and Sonic have a strange and unexpected heart to heart talk too. I hope it wasn't too much out of character! I quite enjoyed describing Shadow's uneasiness around the most normal things...It's a kind of life he has never experienced!
> 
> Let me know what you think about the chapter!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 5 – _Shades of rivalry_**

The people walking along the streets could only see two blurs, one blue and the other black, rushing head and head by their side, making some hats fly off the heads that were carrying them. The two hedgehogs nimbly dodged every obstacle, both focused on the race and without any intention to lose to the other.

Sonic was euphoric. It had been such a long time since he had had the chance to challenge someone who could actually keep his pace even when he used all his speed. It was a strange but pleasant feeling and it made him wanting to go even faster. He felt like he could run forever, never pausing, not even for a moment, and be happy that way. As soon as they reached the forest again he sped up, shooting at his rival a defiant look. Shadow could be the Ultimate-whatever, but _he_ was the fastest thing alive with no doubt. His body seemed to benefit from the mix of satisfaction and joy that the challenge was giving him and worked better than usual, even after the recent fight against Eggman’s robot. He felt much more motivated. He would never admit it aloud, but it seemed that the black hedgehog was a cure-all for his mood and body.

Shadow, on the other hand, was just focusing on what he was doing, trying to ignore the fact that he was actually having some fun. It was rare to find opponents who could compete against him like the blue hedgehog did. It wasn’t only a fact of being able to match his powers in a fight or his speed in a run. Every time he had found someone worth of his respect as a fighter, he had been forced to destroy them because they were a threat for the universe. For some reason strength seemed to associate with evil most of the times. That was one of the reasons that made is rivalry with Sonic somehow special. He shook his head lightly. What a silly thought. He should be worrying about more important things, like the fact that his energy was starting to run low. The chaos blast had tired him more than he had wanted to admit.

In that moment he saw Sonic speeding up and going past him to throw himself in the woods. Their eyes met, ruby in emerald, for a brief moment and the dark hedgehog knew that his pride would have never forgiven him if he had lost that challenge. He ignored the signals coming from his limbs and forced himself to catch up, sinking his fangs in his lower lip to distract himself from the unpleasant sensation of his body becoming heavier and heavier. He couldn’t give up.

However, as soon as he reached his opponent, he started to notice that something was wrong. The fatigue that had burdened his limbs was starting to disappear and a new power was growing inside him. The odd thing was that he didn’t feel less tired and his conscience kept on fading. He absently noticed that the blue blur had surpassed him again, and instinctively sped up. The feeling became stronger at that and Shadow started to find hard to understand what he was doing. His eyes fell on his body and he noticed that there was a strange dark glow all around him. He was caught by surprise and stumbled a bit, confused. His mind, on the other hand, didn’t show any sort of interest for the phenomenon and he felt his own thoughts trying to focus, against his will, again and only on the race. Why not exploiting that new power after all? It felt like he could do anything. The temptation to just let go was strong.

‘ _Shadow, stop_!’

A voice that sounded like Maria’s one exploded into his mind, awakening him from the trance that had almost caught him. He regained the control of his body and stopped his skating movements. The mysterious energy immediately disappeared, leaving him even more drained. The black creature felt his legs giving out and he fell on the ground rolling for some meters until his back crashed into a tree. He let out a frustrated groan and slowly sat up, leaning on his arms. What the hell had been going on with him just a moment before? He knew that he had already experienced something similar, but he couldn’t remember when.

Sonic saw the scene out of the corner of his eye and stopped as soon as he realised, not without a surprised sound, what had happened. He quickly ran back to where his rival was and found him seated against the tree, arms crossed and eyes closed. “Shadow! What the hell was that?” He asked with a grin. “Don’t tell me you tripped! I can’t believe it! That’s not the kind of mistake that suits the Ultimate…” He didn’t finish the sentence seeing that the other wasn’t listening to him. He had opened his eyes and his usual frown had deepened. “Hey, is there something wrong? Are you hurt?” He immediately inquired, aware of the silliness of his questions. But he couldn’t help it after seeing Shadow’s serious face. Something was definitely not right.

“I need to see Abel. He owes me some explanation,” the latter mumbled pensively, getting up with difficulty. “I knew that there was something he and Molly were keeping from me, but I had no idea that it was so serious. They’d better tell me the truth now.”

“What are you talking about?” The blue hero asked again.

This time Shadow seemed to notice him. “None of your business, Faker,” he harshly answered.

“Oh, it is instead! You just fell down before me. And now you can barely walk,” Sonic insisted stubbornly. “I want to know what’s going on since I’d have to help you back to the town considering your conditions.”

“I’ve never asked for your help and I don’t need it.” The dark creature slapped away the hand that was offered to him as a support. But then he said: “I’ve just lost energy. The chaos power I used to destroy the Doctor’s machine had drained me more than I had thought. Without my Rings I can’t control the use of energy.”

“So that’s why those things are so important for you. Well, let’s go and get them!” On the blue hedgehog’s face appeared a teasing smirk. “You don’t want to _faint_ on your rival, do you?”

Shadow gave him a dirty look. “Just wait for me to recover and you’ll regret all your cockiness. I’ve warned you.” He took a careful step forward, leaving the trunk. His legs were working again, which meant he could walk. ‘But not run’ he reminded himself. He couldn’t afford to take the risk. If it hadn’t been for that voice in his head who knew what would have happened. “Make yourself useful and show me the way.”

The blue blur bit back a smart remark and nodded, not trusting his voice. He didn’t want to piss the other creature off even more. No matter how weak he could be at the moment, his rival was still dangerous even in that poor condition. He waited for him to come closer and then started to walk by his side, trying not to stare every time the other let out a tiny but still audible groan, most likely because off his stiff limbs.

Their eyes met only once during the whole way and Shadow immediately looked away. Sonic almost felt bad for him. He was surely feeling frustrated, if not even humiliated, by his conditions. It was clear that keeping the pace of their walking cost him a lot of efforts, but he was too proud to slow down. The blue hero could fully understand him. He would have done the same in that situation. He pondered for a moment on offering his help again, but he decided against it, aware that he would have been rudely rejected. This was Shadow, not one of his friends. Even Knuckles would have accepted to put an arm around his shoulders as a support after grumbling for a while, but not the black hedgehog. He had even the feeling that his counterpart had some kind of dislike for any form of physical contact outside the battlefield.

The tension between them kept growing until the point the hero couldn’t stand it anymore. And, since he was sure that the other had no intention of breaking the silence, he had to do it. “Listen, I was wondering…How long you and the two humans are going to stay here?” He asked, getting ready for a sharp reply.

“I don’t know exactly. It depends on how much it will take us to gather the data we need,” Shadow answered, surprisingly calm. “Once it took us a whole week to complete the task. But I think that a couple of days will be enough.”

“Only two days? That’s a pity. I hoped you’d stay longer since you have friends here. I want to race you again!” Sonic commented, gaining another nasty look. “What was that for?”

“I don’t have friends here,” the cold answer was.

He rolled his eyes. “Oh, my bad. How do you call us? Your former _allies_?”

“Something like that. Anyway, even if I wanted, which I don’t, I couldn’t stay here longer. We’re working, not on holiday.”

“Your companions seemed more in a holiday mood to me, actually.”

“They don’t take this job seriously enough. Besides, Abel has never left his planet before and all this travelling makes him hyperactive. He actually reminds me of someone.” Red orbs focused harder on the blue figure. “And Molly is still young.”

“You know what I think? That _you_ are the one who’s always too serious! That’s the real problem,” the blue hedgehog retorted. He hid a smirk noticing how ready to defend his companions the other had been, but didn’t comment. Most likely Shadow himself wasn’t completely aware of his protective ways when it came to the two humans. “Try to take it easy for once. We aren’t at war. You don’t have to fight some threat. You have been sent to do a great job that allows you to travel around the universe. Learn to have fun!”

“You don’t understand,” Shadow stated quietly, glancing at his hands. “Nobody does.”

“Well, I’m here. Try at least to explain me what I should understand,” Sonic protested. “I don’t even see what’s so wrong with relaxing and not being ice-cold towards everyone for once.”

“It would be a waste of time. You’re right, you don’t even see the problem. And, trust me, it’s better if things stay this way.” The dark creature pointed the first buildings that had started to appear. “We have arrived.”

The blue blur was about to open his mouth to insist and to tell him that they weren’t finished when a voice he knew too well screamed in a high tone: “SONIC!”

“Oh no! Amy!” He groaned, looking helpless. “I thought I have succeeded in avoiding her for the whole day!”

“I’d better go looking for Molly and Abel. I’m fine enough to run now,” Shadow announced. “I’ll see you later for the Rings.”

“Shadow, wait!” The hero exclaimed, running after him and ignoring the disappointed yells behind his back. “You can’t leave me with her like that! I’m coming with you!”

“Tsk, I thought she was your friend.”

“She is! But I don’t like her when she starts rambling about being my _girl_ friend!”

The two sped up along the road, looking for the two humans, but they seemed to be nowhere. They had to look around almost all the town before finding them seated in the garden of Tails and Sonic’s house, which was a bit outside the residential area. Molly was enjoying some kind of drink, while Abel and the fox were in a deep conversation, which wasn’t surprising considering the fact that they had the same kind of intellect.

The girl was the first to notice them. “Oh, for the universe! Shadow!” She exclaimed jumping on her feet and throwing herself at him. “We were so worried! Abel succeeded in convincing me that something bad had happened to you.”

Shadow tentatively hugged her back before pushing her away gently. “I’m fine, Molly. Luckily nothing happened,” he reassured her. “But you two will have to explain me something as soon as we are alone.”

Abel approached him too, relief written on his face. “I’m glad to hear that,” he said. Then he rubbed the back of his neck. “So you noticed it this time. I’m sorry for keeping it from you, but I wanted to find out its cause before telling you. However, I couldn’t do that either.”

“It’s fine, doctor. But this has to be the last time you keep something like that from me,” he stated, calmly but firmly. Then he turned towards the fox boy who had been politely waiting for the three to end their discussion. “Good evening, Tails. I apologise for the intrusion.”

“Don’t worry, I’m used to this kind of things. Besides, your companions are a nice company,” the little genius chuckled. “It’s good to see you again, Shadow.”

The black hedgehog nodded in agreement, while Sonic stared at the whole scene with wide eyes. His rival had told him to go away almost without giving him the time to say “hi” and now he was having a polite chat with his best friend. That wasn’t really fair.

“Wait a sec! Why did you treat me like I didn’t exist and now you’re so easily talking to Tails instead?!” He complained. “I didn’t know you had preferences! I’m hurt!”

“He is able to carry out a conversation without boasting around, something you clearly can’t do,” the Ultimate Life Form pointed out. He couldn’t deny that he quite liked the fox kid, he was smart enough for his tastes and he had shown to have enough courage to stand against him. “That’s it.”

“Always so _nice_ , Shads!”

The other three laughed at the exchange, gaining a disapproving glare from the black creature. Tails smiled seeing his best friend almost pouting at their amusement before joining the laughter. That was an unexpected way to reunite with their former firstly enemy and then ally. He and Sonic had put up a fight every time they had crossed each other’s path and it felt strange seeing them just talking, even if not exactly in a friendly way.

“Why don’t we go inside and have something to eat? It’s almost suppertime and I bet that we’re all hungry,” he proposed exploiting the light mood. “You three could tell me your story. I want to know how you have survived once again, Shadow. It’s simply unbelievable!”

“Ultimate Life Form here, remember?” The blue blur said jokingly, daring to hang an arm around Shadow’s shoulders and preventing him from saying anything. “He himself is incredible!”

The other pushed him away. “Don’t take these liberties with me, Faker. I am not your friend,” he warned. “Don’t forget it.”

“Ah, Shadow! Why do you have to be so cold?” Abel complained glaring at his assistant in disapproval. “They’ve just opened up their house for us! Try at least to be a bit grateful. Anyway, we’ll gladly join you for dinner if it’s not too much trouble, Tails.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine,” the fox reassured them. “Come on, let’s go inside. You can stay in the living room while I’m cooking.”

“Actually, we wanted to help you. It will be quicker this way,” Molly hurried to say. “And it will also be our way to thank you.”

“Any help is welcomed! Just don’t let Sonic near the cooker. Last time it almost exploded,” Tails joked, leading the others inside. “Shadow, I guess you aren’t going to lend us a hand, are you?”

“No, I’m not. But I’ll keep an eye on the blue hedgehog if this is what you are asking for,” the dark creature answered.

“Hey, I don’t need a baby-sitter!” The blue hero protested, but he was trying not to laugh. “Maybe we should say that _I_ ’ll keep an eye on Shadow.”

“You can watch each other then,” the orange-haired girl stated, pointing the living room. “And, Shadow, please try to be nice. Do it for me?”

The two hedgehogs watched their three companions disappearing inside the kitchen, before heading for the next room. Sonic let himself fall on the sofa with a sigh, while Shadow stood at the threshold, looking around. He had never actually been in a real house. He had seen the ARK cabins, Eggman’s headquarters and spaceship, Molly’s and Abel’s lodgings at the research station. But that was the first time he entered in a building that had the only purpose of hosting somebody. It was nothing special, but it still caught his attention.

“You OK? Don’t you like the place?” The blue hedgehog asked, interrupting his thoughts. “Come on, sit down. You must be still tired.”

“It’s nothing,” he mumbled, but he joined him on the couch, sitting with his arms crossed. “I guess I _should_ ask how you have been in these months.”

“But you won’t, will you? Well, I’ll answer anyway,” the other grinned, giving him a meaningful glance. “Everything has gone back to normal after we came back here. Eggster has gone back to his plans to build his empire, as you have seen, and Chris has been sent back to his world. I miss the kid, he was a very good friend.” His last sentence gained him a nod of agreement from his rival, but he decided not to comment on it. If he wanted to convince him to talk he had to try not to tease him too much. “As for me, I’m back to my old life. Running, spending time outside, enjoying the nature, fighting huge robots and helping my friends when they need me. That’s all.” He glanced at his speaker. “Are you going to snap and then seal your lips if I ask you the same question?”

Shadow glared at him. “Molly has told me to be nice and I don’t want to disappoint her. After the battle I spent two months in a coma and I woke up with no memory at all. I didn’t even know my name. Abel helped me to remember, which led to three months of migraines and nightmares. After that, I just spent my time working with him at his many experiments and wandering around the planet.” He lifted his pendant. “I have no idea of where the chaos emeralds are, but Abel managed to make this for me. Its energy is similar to theirs and allows me to use chaos control. That’s all.”

“Nothing’s ever easy for you, is it? And, wow, you have actually said more than two sentences without insulting me!” Sonic joked, faking shock. “That’s a start! I was just wondering what that thing around your neck was. Oh, speaking about your things, the Inhibitor Rings. Better give them back before I forget.” He got up. “Come on, follow me. They’re upstairs in my room.”

“Why do I have to come? Isn’t it better if you just go and get them?” The black hedgehog pointed out. He wasn’t comfortable with going around other people’s bedrooms. He considered them really private places, and maybe that was why he didn’t have one. He didn’t want to risk that somebody could get inside. At the ARK he used to share a cabin with Maria and he was fine with that, but he hadn’t entered any other bedroom without a good reason since then, not even the ones of his two new friends. In theory he shared the lodging with Molly, but he was never there. He preferred staying in the lab and sleeping on the roof. So why should he go to his _rival’s_ room?

“Come on, don’t be lazy, Shads!” The blue blur pressed, standing in front of him. “I’ll show you the rest of the house too. I guess you and the others will be staying the night. And I noticed you have become quite fascinated with the place…” He let his voice trail off on the last sentence and kept watching him expectantly.

Shadow lifted his eyes. So the idiot had grasped his interest. Great. “Ok, Faker, you won. I’m coming with you,” he gave up and got on his feet in turn. “Let’s make this quick. And I’ve already told you to stop using that nickname.”

“As you wish! But I wouldn’t count on me stopping if I were you,” Sonic sang, gaining a nasty look and leading him outside the living room. “Well, on this floor we have only the kitchen, the sitting room and Tails’s lab. Upstairs there are the bedrooms and the bathroom. Easy, isn’t it?”

They reached the first floor. Four doors opened on the corridor. Two of them had a letter carved in their wooden surface, clearly their owners’ initials. The hero went straight to his own and entered, leaving the door opened for Shadow, who peeked inside without crossing the doorstep. It was quite bare, with only a few pieces of furniture, a couple of posters on the walls and a large window. Somehow it fitted his blue counterpart, even if he would have expected some spectacular detail that could match the blue one’s tendency to show off. The said hedgehog had grabbed the casket he kept on his nightstand and was now staring at him again. He blinked in surprised, realising that all that gazing was making him uneasy, but quickly hid his discomfort. He should have been used to it, most people on Abel’s planet couldn’t tear their eyes away from him when he walked along the streets.

“Is it a new habit of yours?” Sonic asked, raising an eyebrow, with a hint of sarcasm.

“Excuse me?” He inquired, not grasping the meaning of his words.

“Standing on thresholds. It’s the second time you do it,” the other explained. “It’s a bedroom, Shadow, it has no intention of eating you.”

He frowned deeply, but took a step inside, pausing for a moment before approaching his rival. “Give me those Rings and let’s end it.”

“You’re even weirder than I thought,” the blue hedgehog chuckled, taking the objects out of the box. “Here you are.”

The black one took Rings and put them around his wrists, watching them for a moment. He immediately felt better. Now he was sure that he would no longer risk losing the control of his chaos powers. “What is that supposed to mean?” He asked then, turning his attention back to his speaker. “What I have done now?”

“I didn’t mean it as a bad thing! Just…You act quite _differently_ when we are on the battlefield. You never hesitate, almost never explain…You just go and fight. That isn’t exactly how a normal person would behave, even when totally focused on his task. And that’s weird, but I’ve gotten used to it,” the latter explained rubbing his ear, a little uncomfortable. He didn’t like the serious look that the other was giving him. “But now that we are in a completely different situation you are even a bit…like a fish out of water. You’re as quiet as usual, but you are too careful than necessary and very suspicious about everything. You don’t seem to be at your ease at all. And it’s weirder because this is one of the most normal possible situations. It’s daily life. Now, I know you don’t have great social skills, but I never thought you’d be so hopeless.”

“Hopeless, you say?” Shadow’s tone was neutral, but in his eyes there was a spark of what could be interest. “This is the first time that somebody calls me that way.”

Sonic sat on his bed, leaning on his elbows. “There’s always a first time!” He stated solemnly, but the grin never left his face. He was quite satisfied with the reactions he had got from his rival. The dark creature was slowly getting more relaxed and that pleased him.

“And today is a day for firsts, it seems…” The Ultimate Life Form whispered to himself.

“Come again?” the hero asked, perplexed. Then he patted the space next to him. “And would you sit down by your own? Or do I have to tell you everything you have to do? You’re acting like you’ve never been at someone’s place.”

“That’s because I’ve never have.” The black hedgehog didn’t move from his spot near the nightstand. He kept a blank expression when the blue one stared back at him, eyes wide with astonishment. “I’m not exactly someone whom a sane person would invite at his or her house, don’t you think?”

“Uh, you’re right. So this is what you meant…” The hero tried to sound not taken aback by the news, but inside he was completely astonished. He couldn’t imagine Shadow having some sort of social life, but he still found incredible what he had just heard. Then again, it hit him that the dark one hadn’t even had the chance to do that kind of things, even if he had wanted it. He’d grown up in a space colony as the product of a lab, and he had spent unconscious, recovering from his battles, the time he hadn’t been fighting. Considering that it wasn’t such a big surprise the fact that he had no idea of how to behave. He had never had a normal daily life. And his experience with Molly and Abel didn’t count since once again he had locked himself in some kind of laboratory, that, he was sure, reminded him of the ARK. Shadow had tried, consciously or unconsciously, to rebuild the only kind of peaceful life he knew. No wonder that he had associated himself once again only with a girl and a scientist. He could almost see the chains made of old memories and hard times that tied the Ultimate Life Form to the same, unbreakable schemes and manners. And he couldn’t stand it, being the free spirit he was. He hated every kind of imposed limits and his rival was literally trapped by the worst ones. He had to do something.

A resolute expression appeared on his face and he leant out to grab the dark creature’s arm. The latter was taken by surprised and didn’t have the time to react as Sonic pulled him down towards the bed, forcing him to sit down by his side.

“It wasn’t that hard, was it?” The hero laughed, seeing the other’s unsettled expression. “Relax! You aren’t doing anything wrong. This is how two friends…or _rivals_ taking a break from their contrasts, if you prefer…hang out together.” He cracked a hopeful and cheerful grin, hoping that Shadow wouldn’t just decide to tear his head off without warning.

The other hedgehog simply stared at him with his usual frown, not showing any other emotion and making him wonder if he hadn’t just ruined everything with his claims to fix a problem that didn’t concern him so far. He forced himself to hold that cold gaze and looked directly in the red globes that at the moment were even more unfathomable than usual. Those eyes had always made shivers run down his spine, since the first time he had seen them, back in the other dimension. There was a whole dark universe beneath them, a world that nobody would never completely understand. Yet, its mystery was almost irresistible.

Shadow kept quiet, abandoning his previous thoughts to focus on the gazes competition. He had to admit that the blue blur had surprised him, proving himself to be much smarter than he had thought. He had probably grasped the main cause of his uneasiness and was trying, in his personal, exuberant way, to help him to get more comfortable. He refrained himself to roll his eyes in annoyance at that, but deep down he felt a hint of gratitude. He didn’t quite get how the cocky hedgehog could still treat him so friendly after he had tried to kill him and his precious friends. That was something linked to the concepts of trust and companionship that he would probably never understand. But he still felt like he had to do something in exchange. That’s what Maria had taught him.

‘ _Remember, Shadow, in your life you will meet a lot of different people, especially once we’ll go to the Earth. Some of them will be not so nice or even nasty with you, as some of the scientists here at the colony are. But others will show you the most precious things you’ll ever find in your life: friendship and love. A deep bond, like the one you and I share. Hold on to them, Shadow. Because they are the only ones who can give a real meaning to your existence._ ’

He had stared at her with confusion, unable to comprehend what she was saying. She had laughed and ruffled his quills, stating that one day he would understand what she meant and he would thank her. The irony was that he had grasped it right in the moment when she had given up her life to save him. The promise he had made to her had become the sense of his existence and the symbol of their bond. He instinctively lowered is eyes at the memory, to conceal the sorrow that slowly filled them. That had been so unfair. She was joyful, lively, good and brave, one of the most beautiful incarnations of life in his eyes. She knew how to live at her full, even if she had grown up among metal walls as well. Yet, she was fragile, as every existence was. And she had died, leaving behind a creature who knew almost nothing about the meaning of living. That was so _wrong_.

“Uh, Shadow?” Sonic called, not knowing how to interpret that sudden change of attitude.

The black hedgehog came immediately back to the present, and put on a blank expression. “I still have some problems with my memories,” he stated coldly. “Forget about it.”

The hero didn’t seem convinced at all and dared to ask: “You were thinking about her, weren’t you?” He didn’t need to say her name.

Shadow for a moment thought to growl him to mind his own business, but Maria’s words came into his mind once again. “Yes,” he simply admitted. Then he let out a brief hollow laugh. “She would have wanted me to befriend you. And I’m quite sure she would have liked you a lot.”

The blue blur’s smile took a hint of sadness. “And I’d have been more than glad to meet her,” he said quietly. “After all, she’s the only one who seems to have some good influence on you. She must have been a great girl.”

The Ultimate Life Form nodded. It felt odd talking to Sonic about something so personal. He had opened up like that only with Molly, and only a few times. But he couldn’t stop his words. “She wasn’t a normal human, she was special. She taught me several things, even if I still don’t understand most of them. But I owe her everything, and I would have even if she hadn’t given up her life for me.” He hesitated for a second, but the rare serious look on his rival’s face pushed him to go on. “Sometimes I wonder if I’m worth her sacrifice.”

Sonic titled his head slightly. He wasn’t expecting such a heart-to-heart talk from his counterpart, and he was well aware that if he spoke the wrong words he would never have another chance to start a more friendly relationship with him. He decided for straightforwardness. It was always the right choice for him. “You may not care about what I think, but, if you asked me, I’d say that she had done a great work. You’re not the best kind of person in the universe and a good part of your personality is actually awful.” He allowed himself a chuckle at that. “But they are the traits that make you Shadow the Hedgehog, the cold-hearted bastard that has saved us all more than once and the _faker_ that deep inside isn’t as bad as he wants to appear. She loved you for what you are and I can see why she did. If you only smiled more, we could say that you are more than worth her choice. The universe, which owes you its existence, would surely agree with me.”

Shadow stared at him, openly surprised by the speech. Then the corners of his mouth curved up slightly. “I’m impressed by your use of rhetoric. I didn’t know you could be that good, _Sonic._ ” He stood up. “We’d better go back downstairs, I can hear Molly calling for us. I don’t want her to think that I’ve killed you and run away.”

The hero’s smile grew wider as he heard his name coming out from the other’s lips. That was the dark creature’s way to make him know he had appreciated his efforts. A direct “thank you” wouldn’t have been in Shadow’s style and besides for him those sarcastic but sincere words meant more than any other sign of gratitude. “I have a lot of hidden qualities!” He playfully boasted getting up in turn. “You’d never imagine.”

The dark hedgehog snorted quietly but threw him an amused glance as they left the room. His visit on Mobius was taking an odd turn, but it also offered some interesting sides. Maybe they could stop there for a while, considering that Molly and Abel were getting very much along with his former allies. He shot another brief look to his rival. Yes, they certainly should.


	6. Stepwise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, everybody!
> 
> I'm back with the new chapter! This time we got to see Rouge, only if for a short time (yeah, because I put another long flashback xD), but don't worry she will have her part as well later on! She is one of the few who seems to understand Shadow (at least a bit) and she didn't fail to notice that there is something different in him...The flashback is once again about Molly and Shadow's time on Abel's planet and I hope it will help to understand the little changes Rouge has noticed!!
> 
> Thanks a lot to everyone for reading! Please review, feedback is really important for me! It helps me improve and understand if I'm doing something wrong!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: the story will contain shonen-ai (Shadow x Sonic, Sonadow, meaning male x male), if you don't like, don't read, please!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.

**Chapter 6 – _Stepwise_**

The dinner was wrapped in a cheerful atmosphere. Molly and Abel told their hosts the full story of how they and Shadow had met, and the girl briefly spoke about her origins and how she had ended up with the scientist. Tails was captured especially by the description of that planet far away, which appeared to him as the paradise of technology. The two geniuses lost themselves in their discussions about complicated theories and projects, while the orange-haired girl asked Sonic to tell her about the war against the Metarex since Shadow had never given her many details.

The latter kept quiet for all time and almost didn’t touch the food, taking some bites only to please his female companion. He really wasn’t in the mood for eating and he gladly avoided it since his body allowed him to go on for a long time without the need of any physical sustenance. As they moved into the living room to carry out the conversation, he simply sat between the speaking pairs, looking out of the window, lost in his thoughts.

In the end the two humans and the fox started to show signs of sleepiness and they decided to call it a day and go to sleep. Abel took the guest room, while Sonic succeeded in persuading the girl to use his room, stating that he mostly slept outside. Nobody asked the dark hedgehog about where he was going to sleep. They all know that he could manage everything on his own. In fact, as soon as his companions were gone, he left the house, mumbling a brief “goodnight” in Tails’s direction.

The fox boy raised an eyebrow but then shrugged. “He is certainly doing his best to ignore you,” he commented to his best friend, yawning. “I really can’t understand him.”

“Don’t worry, Tails, he’s just keeping up appearances,” the blue hedgehog said, crossing his arms and glancing at the main door. His mind went back for a moment to the exchange he had had with his counterpart before. “We actually had a pretty interesting conversation before dinner, which surprised me a lot.”

“If you say so…” Tails stretched a bit. “Anyway, I’m going to sleep. I’ll see you tomorrow. Try not to piss him off, ok? Goodnight!”

“I won’t, little bro. Sleep well!” The blue hedgehog ruffled the fur on the top of his younger companion’s head and watched him disappear upstairs. Then he went out in the garden, but his rival was nowhere to be seen. So much Shadow-like. He shook his head and got on the roof. He was a bit tired himself so he thought that some hours of sleep would be good for him as well.

“I guess I’ll see you tomorrow,” he mumbled, laying down, fingers intertwined behind his head. “At times I really wonder what goes on in that strange mind of yours, Shadow the Hedgehog…”

  
Rouge glanced at the clock from behind the counter. It was almost one in the morning, which meant that there were still three hours before closing time. She looked around, quite satisfied to see both the nightclub part and casino room of her club still crowed. Her businesses were running well and she had also got to know some interesting people who could give her precious information about some lovely jewel, like the little diamond she was wearing around her neck. Such a beautiful gem truly suited her dark figure.

She turned her attention to her costumers, chatting with them while serving the drinks they had ordered and doing a bit of flirting with the handsome cat guy who was sat right in front of her. She grinned inwardly, welcoming the compliments she was given. Entertaining the clients in the right way was one of the tricks of the trade.

The bat was so absorbed in her work that at first she didn’t notice the black figure that had crossed the threshold of the club and had gone to stand in the darkest corner near the counter. It took her some more minutes to acknowledge his presence but, as soon as she did, she stopped in mid-sentence, taken aback by the sight. She blinked a few times, just to make sure that her eyes weren’t deceiving her, then quickly excused herself from the group and went straight towards him, a mischievous grin painted on her lips.

“Oh, who do I see! Good evening, Shadow. This afternoon I got the feeling that you have come back when that robot exploded…But I wasn’t expecting a visit from you here. Where have you been?”

“Rouge. It’s been a while,” he greeted. “I had some business in another galaxy. And now there are things I need to take care of on this planet. But I’m not here to stay.”

“Always a man of few words, aren’t you? I would hug you, but I already know that it wouldn’t make you pleased,” she commented, not without a hint of sarcasm. “Are you alone this time? Or are still working for Eggman somehow?”

“I have no link with the Doctor. And I don’t want to have any. Even if I’m not exactly on my own.” He crossed his arms. “Do you remember Molly?”

“That poor girl from the Cascade planet?”

“Yes, her. She found me after the battle and I’m living with her and another guy now. I’m travelling with them. He is a scientist on his planet and this trip has the goal to collect information about this galaxy.”

“I see.” Rouge turned to grab two glasses and a bottle. “This is new to me. Shadow the Loner has two companions. Are you getting soft maybe?”

“They saved me. I’m in debt,” the harsh reply was.

She laughed a bit. “Come on, don’t get all worked up! I was just kidding!” She passed him one of the drinks. “Do you mind a toast? It’s on the house.”

He grabbed it nodding. “What do you want to drink to?”

“To your comeback to this planet and especially to _life,_ ” she said lifting her glass with a sincerer smile. “To the Ultimate Life Form.”

“To your business and to our reunion,” he added. “To you, Rouge the Bat.”

They clinked the glasses together and drank all in a go. The thief put on a pleased expression seeing how easily her old ally and teammate had accepted her offer. He wore his usual dark appearances, but to her watchful eye he seemed more relaxed.

“Why are you staring at me?” He asked, slightly raising an eyebrow.

“You are always a good sight,” she joked with a playful wink. “And I’m quite intrigued by your sudden _helpfulness_ , if we can call it that way. Your new companions must have some kind of good influence on you. Or so it seems. You have changed, Shadow.”

“And you can deduce that only by the fact that I’ve accepted to drink with you?” The hedgehog asked with a sceptical tone. “I could just have had a good day.”

“You never have a good day,” Rouge answered very confidently, refilling their glasses. “At least, not the Shadow I used to work with.”

“Instead I had a quite _interesting_ day.” Shadow cracked a faint smile, careful not to show it. The bat had always had a great shrewdness, she didn’t fail to notice the slightest change, especially in the things that interested her. And he was one of them. “Are you planning to get me drunk?” He asked then, pointing the new drink.

“Can the Ultimate Life Form get drunk?” She questioned back, smirking as he glared at her. “I guess you aren’t going to tell me about this “interesting day” of yours. By the way, where are you and your friends staying?”

“Tails’s house. Molly and Able somehow arrived there and got along with the fox.”

The bat looked surprised. “Doesn’t the kid live with the blue hedgehog?”

“He does.”

“And wasn’t Sonic at home when they got there?”

“No. He was racing against me in the forest.”

It was the thief’s turn to raise an eyebrow. “I don’t follow you.”

The dark creature snorted, annoyed. “I don’t see what’s so difficult to understand. We landed here and, after I defeated that robot, the faker followed me. My companions are a bit too _talkative_ at times, so I was forced to separate them and the blue hedgehog. What is it that you don’t get?”

“I don’t get you and the other hedgehog having a friendly match,” she stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

He shrugged a bit. “I’m not his enemy anymore, at least for the moment. But this doesn’t mean I’m his friend either.”

“Of course you aren’t.” Rouge laughed sipping her drink. “You simply don’t care about what he does or doesn’t as long as he stays out of your way.”

“That’s it.” He ignored the hint of sarcasm in her voice. There was no way he was going to talk about Sonic, especially with her and especially after the last conversation he had had with his rival. He still didn’t understand why he had told him those things. ‘Maybe Rouge is right and I’ve become softer since I met Molly and Abel…’ He mused, not really pleased by the thought. He took his glass and had a sip. “Shouldn’t you go back to your costumers?”

Rouge’s smirked widened. “Are you sending me away? Did I hit a nerve perhaps?” She inquired maliciously. “Anyway, I guess I should. Even if I’d rather spend some more time chatting with my revived companion. Will you still be here when I come back to check on you?”

“I’ll stay here all night, if that pleases you. I have nothing better to do,” the uncaring answer was. “If you don’t see me, look outside.”

“Great!” She looked truly satisfied. “I still have two hours and half of work. Take whatever you want, drink or eat. For you it’s all free. After that you could come and crash at my place.”

The black hedgehog just nodded, shifting a bit on his chair to get more comfortable. He could do it. After all nobody was paying him any attention since he was hidden among the shadows. He usually didn’t like crowded and noisy places, but in that part of the club the noise was still acceptable. Besides, he could always go outside and wait for Rouge there.

Shadow looked at the ceiling, his mind already spacing out. He could ask the bat about what had happened during his absence. He was more interested in hearing it from her than from everybody else because her point of view was neutral, even if he wasn’t too fond of the frivolous comments she always added hither and yon. She always and only cared about her own business, just as he did, and maybe that was why they had always got along almost easily. Moreover, they had worked together many times under Eggman and he had to admit that the thief was a good teammate. It wasn’t a coincidence if she had been the closest thing to a friend he had had after Maria and before his current companions.

He glanced at the bat’s elegant figure, which was now moving among the little tables. He didn’t regret having come and visited her. And it was all thanks to Tails, who during dinner had mentioned her club. After reaching the city he had just had to look around for a short while before finding it. The place was pretty famous. He removed his eyes away from his former ally and moved them across the room, before focusing on his now empty glass. The place reminded him of another one, less crowded and noisy, on Abel’s planet where he and Molly had spent a sleepless night many months before. He sighed quietly. It was going to be a long wait before closing time.

 

_A year before, research station…_

Molly was walking along the corridors of the highest floors. She had just left the hangar after a meeting to discuss the results of the last trials she had done, but, in spite of the fact that it was late at night, she wasn’t tired at all and she was looking for something to do. She had asked for Abel at the labs floor, but the technicians had told her that he was locked up in his own laboratory, all focused on some new chemical experiment, which meant he wouldn’t be available until he was done. Or until the thing he was working on wouldn’t explode, which wouldn’t have been a surprise. That was why she was now heading towards the roof, almost certain that she would find her other companion up there. Shadow spent almost all his lonely nights watching the stars when he wasn’t in the labs and when it wasn’t raining.

She took the stairs, the soles of her boots hitting the smooth metal. She didn’t get why the hedgehog didn’t use the bed he had been provided in the lodging they theoretically shared. At first she had thought that he was somehow avoiding her, but he hadn’t showed in any other way to dislike her company, fact that had led her to believe that there was a deeper reason behind his choice. Anyway, she at least knew where to find him.

As she reached the roof she felt those crimson orbs on her. Shadow must have heard her footstep approaching. She turned to face the black figure that was standing against the dark sky, almost confusing himself with it.

“Hey,” she spoke softly, receiving a nod as a greeting. “How was your day?”

“Fine. Apart from those medical tests,” the creature answered, moving his eyes back to the stars. “What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be in bed? It’s late.”

“That meeting I told you about ended just twenty minutes ago. I don’t feel like going to sleep and moreover tomorrow is my day off.” She waited for a comment or similar, but the other just beckoned her to go on speaking. She hesitated for a moment. Her friend wore a strange look in his eyes, which meant he probably was once again lost in his memories when she had joined him. However, he didn’t seem to be in a bad mood, in spite of everything. She could give her idea a try. “I was thinking we could do something together…if you want. I’ve been very busy lately and you had spent a lot of time away travelling around the planet. So, I thought we could make up for the lost time.”

Shadow turned around again and approached her, his expression unfathomable. “Let’s go,” he just said, leaving her taking aback for some moments.

“S-Sure,” she managed to answer in the end. She was sure that he would have agreed to her offer, but she had never thought that it would have been so easy. She briefly glanced at him, wondering what was going on in his mind, as they started to walk downstairs. After six months she still had a lot of troubles in following the creature’s mood swings. In some occasions he was as much helpful as Shadow the Hedgehog could be, while other times he was simply impossible and it was difficult, if not dangerous, even approaching him.

They kept silent for all the way down to the building hall, walking side by side. The girl kept wondering if it had been a bad idea making that invitation, but atmosphere wasn’t tensed and it made her hope that she had done the right choice.

The streets around the station were empty, apart from some stray animal that moved in the darkest corners, but, as soon as they arrived near the city centre, it got livelier and groups of people started to appear in front of the pubs entrances and near the many benches scattered around the city. Molly looked around, trying to remember the way. Some time before one of her colleagues had told her that there was a nice club somewhere in that area where the station employees usually went after work or on their day off. He had told her that she could get in even if she was underage by showing her pass. She had never been there before mostly because Abel always refused to leave his workplace for a reason that wasn’t linked to his job and she hadn’t wanted to go alone. She shot another look at Shadow. Now she had the chance to finally visit the place, even if she wasn’t sure that her dark companion would like it.

Molly let that thought go as she spotted the right street on her left. She would discover it soon, there was no reason to hesitate. She had decided to give it a try and she would. Besides, she was getting the idea to exploit the situation to talk to him about something. The hedgehog simply followed her without asking, ignoring the glances that the people gave him as they made their way through the crowd. Which was a good sign, at least in the orange-haired girl’s opinion.

Five minutes later they were in front of the hallway of the club. A young woman immediately came to welcome them, a big smile on her painted lips. Molly handed her the pass and asked for a table somewhere aside from the rest of the people.

“Sure, honey. And I’ll take care of you personally,” the waitress answered cheerfully. Her green eyes fell on the dark creature. “I guess it’s for your friend here. By the way, you are that alien they all mentioned from time to time, aren’t you?”

Shadow glared coldly at her, showing no intention to answer, and the orange-haired girl immediately stepped between the two, a nervous smile on her face. “Sorry for his manners, he’s not very sociable, especially with strangers,” she quickly explained. “That’s why I prefer not to catch the attention of everybody here.”

“I see, there’s no problem. At least he is just cold and quiet, while some of my costumers are just plainly rude,” the woman commented, giving her a playful wink. “I actually like dark, mysterious guys. Now, follow me, dears! By the way, I’m Alex.”

Molly chuckled at that, while the hedgehog almost rolled his eyes. That human reminded him of a certain bat he knew. Alex led them into a corner of the place, where the table was half hidden by a small bookcase, then excused herself, leaving them the drink list.

“May I ask you why we are here?” Shadow finally spoke, looking at his friend who was seated opposite to him.

“I’ve wanted for a while to come here, so I just took the opportunity,” she answered calmly, but kept her eyes on the menu. “I thought it could be nice staying if not with people at least near to them for once. I wanted to have a change of scenery.”

“I see. But this is not the only reason, is it?” he stated, crossing his arms.

“No, it isn’t.” She smiled. “Is it that much obvious?”

“It is. For me at least. You keep playing with your hair and you do it only when you are nervous or worried about something,” he said. He still wore his usual frown, but his tone didn’t carry any hint of disapproval or annoyance. “So, what is it?”

Molly immediately let go the lock she didn’t realised she was twirling around her finger. “I’ve been thinking, Shadow. I’ve been thinking about _you_ recently,” she started. “Quite a lot. Because that’s what friends do, they care and worry about each other. And I’m concerned about you.”

“Why should you be? My tests show that I’m almost perfectly fine. I no longer have those nightmares and my memory is back,” he pointed out, giving her a questioning look. “I don’t see what you are trying to say.”

“I’m not talking about your physical health. I mean, you’re the Ultimate Life Form and everything, I know your body is more than fine. I’m talking about your _mind_ , Shadow,” she explained finally looking at him. “I know that you can take care of yourself and that you are more than capable of making your own decisions. However…I wanted to show you this aspect of the world anyway.” She opened her arms a bit. “This particular place, for example, it’s a place where people come to have fun after work and to spend time with the ones they love. You can hear they laugh and talk and just relax. This is peacetime, Shadow. We don’t have to fight anymore. _You_ don’t need to fight.” Her blue eyes fell on the silver pendant the other was wearing. “I know that you’ll be there whenever a new threat will come, but for now you could just try to _live_. And with that I don’t mean that you have to become sociable or something like that. It wouldn’t be like you and I don’t want that. I like you as you are. But you should try to drop those barriers you have all around your heart and give the universe a chance.”

“Why should I? I’m fine with the current situation,” the black hedgehog opposed. “I still don’t understand what you are trying to say. I know we are in peaceful times. I don’t spend my days fighting. I do the things I feel like doing. What’s wrong with that?”

Molly sighed. It was difficult, but she already knew it would have been. “Nothing is wrong with that. But being “fine” is not enough. You’ve lost and sacrificed a lot during your life, and now you deserve more, Shadow.” Her eyes were filled with determination and she dared to take his hands in her owns. “What I’m asking you is to open up a bit and be less strict with yourself. Allow yourself to experience new things. Like how you’re doing by helping Abel with his experiments. You have spent most of your life in a battlefield, there are so many things you don’t know. I know it can be frightening and hard, especially considering that you are not a normal being, but don’t be afraid of trying. Trust me, it’s worth the risks and the pain you might get.” She smiled softly. “I don’t want you to survive as you are doing. I want you to live…and I want you to be _happy_. Choose the way you prefer to do it, but be happy, Shadow.”

Her last sentence struck the Ultimate Life Form. For a moment before his eyes Molly’s face became Maria’s and their voices merged into one another. ‘ _Be happy, Shadow_ ’. Those blue eyes that had meant anything to him were staring deep in his own, with so much affection that he thought he couldn’t hold them. He knew what both girls were asking to him, but he wasn’t sure he could comply. After his late friend’s death happiness had always appeared as something out of his grasp, something so alien to him. Did he even know what it meant? Once he had thought that he did, but now he wasn’t sure anymore. Too much had happened, he had lost too much.

He slowly recovered from his shock and he gently squeezed Molly’s hands back. He couldn’t bring himself to say no to her, as he had never been able to refuse anything to Maria. “I will try, Molly. But I can’t swear you that I’ll succeed,” he stated, trying to conceal his inner turmoil. He couldn’t promise something like that.

The girl’s gaze lit up with joy. “It’s more than enough for me, Shadow,” she reassured him. “I’m here to help you. And I’m sure that Abel will be glad to lend you a hand as well. We are family, we are together, for better or for worse!” She freed her hands from his grip and poked his face. “Let’s start from the basic things. I want to see a smile instead of that frown!”

He raised an eyebrow, sceptical, but then let, not without some efforts, his amusement take over and crack a small grin. “You are the worst, Molly,” he half-joked, shaking his head.

“Oh, you haven’t seen anything yet,” she laughed, satisfied with the results she had gotten. “We have just started.” She looked at Alex who had kept politely away, waiting for them to finish their talk. “Why don’t we get something to drink now?”

“That’s fine, under the condition that you choose what we are having,” he stated, leaning back against his seatback. It pleased him seeing her so bright. He wished he could share her happiness for real, but there were too many things preventing him from doing it.

“Deal!” She exclaimed, gesturing the waitress that they were ready.

 

_Present time, Mobius…_

Shadow came back to reality as he realized that the club was now almost empty. He had been so focused on his thoughts that he had completely lost the sense of time. Rouge was on the other side of the room, taking care of the last costumers as they prepared to leave. She would have come to him in no time.

He went back to the memory. After that day Molly and he had had other talks about the subject, even if she hadn’t spoken so directly to him. In his behalf, he had just dropped it every time, even if the scene almost never left his mind. Maybe that could explain the small but actual changes in his behaviour, the ones that Rouge had noticed. He was trying to look at the universe with less suspicion, although he couldn’t really open up to a reality that had betrayed him so deeply. He had allowed the girl and the scientist to get close to him, to almost give him a new family, to show him once again what real friendship meant. And he had allowed himself to trust them. He also smiled at times, especially if his female companion was around, even though they were only faint grins. Baby steps, as Abel had told him once.

“Are you ready, Shadow?” The bat asked, approaching him, a bunch of keys in her hand.

“I am if you are,” he answered getting up.

“We can go then! My place isn’t far from here, it will take us only few minutes,” she said, as they headed for the door. “So, are you going to tell me more about your new friends or do I have to force you?”

The corners of the hedgehog’s mouth lifted up a bit. “We’ll see, Rouge…”


	7. Unexpected visits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everybody! ^^" 
> 
> I'm sorry for being so late with this upload, but I've been (and I still am since my exams are approaching) awfully busy with my studies and I'm having some personal problems. I hope you don't mind too much. So, I'm uploading this chapter and the next one today, then I'm afraid I won't upload anything for at least two weeks...
> 
> So, we got to see Eggman again in this chapter. And he seemed to be planning something, as always. But what is his newest and apparently harmless invention hiding? Tails doesn't take well the news of Shadow and Sonic being alone with the madman...Is he right?
> 
> Thanks a lot to everyone for favouriting the previous chapter! I loved it! Please review and let me know what you think! If there is something you'd like to see or happen, I'll try to put it if it fits the storyline!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: the story will contain shonen-ai (Shadow x Sonic, Sonadow, meaning male x male), if you don't like, don't read, please!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.

**Chapter 7 – _Unexpected visits_**

Sonic stirred, jumping down from the roof, stretching his still numb muscles. The night had turned out to be colder than he was expecting, but he didn’t mind too much. It had to be much more freezing to cause him a real problem. He crossed the threshold, following the light smell of food that came from the kitchen. It seemed that Tails was already awake and, if he was lucky, that breakfast was already ready. He was quite hungry and he needed a good amount of energy since he was planning to run for the whole day. He entered the room, preparing to greet his younger friend, but instead he found Molly, who was busying herself toasting some bread and cooking some bacon.

As she sensed his presence she turned quickly around. “Oh, good morning, Sonic!” She exclaimed. “Tails and Abel are already at the workshop and have left me the task to make some food for you too. I hope you don’t mind.”

“Hey, Molly! Don’t worry, I’m more than fine with it,” he answered, grabbing an apple from the basket on the table. “My little bro has found his brain mate. I have the feeling that I’ll see him lesser and lesser until you guys leave!”

The orange-haired girl chuckled. “I think so too. I can say the same thing about Abel after all. I wonder how I’m going to spend my days without my job to do and without him,” she joked as she put the food in the plates. “Shadow isn’t a real company, even when he’s actually around. By the way, is he back?”

“You could always go around and explore the planet. But don’t worry, as soon as you get to know the rest of the crew, you’ll find yourself very busy,” the blue blur grinned widely, taking a huge bite of the fruit and sitting down. “No, I haven’t seen the faker yet. He left yesterday after you went to sleep, without saying a word. I have no idea of where he is.”

“Typical. He never tells!” Molly snorted crossing her arms. Then her smile came back. “You can introduce me to them later, if you have time.”

“Sure. You’ll like them. They are all nice pals. And don’t worry about Shadow, he’ll be back sooner than you think.”

“I know he will. He’s always like that. He disappears and then comes out from nowhere after some time,” she sighed shaking her head and taking a seat in turn. “I’m resigned to that. He is impossible, nothing can be done about it.”

“And then you complain when I speak ill of somebody. At least I told them to their face, not behind their back.” Shadow’s voice made them both turn. He was standing in the doorway, arms crossed. “Good morning, Molly, Faker…Just in time for breakfast I see. You don’t mind if we have another guest, do you?”

“Shadow! You’re back! I was waiting for you,” the girl exclaimed, quite pleased. At least the dark creature hadn’t given her the time to get worried sick. “Who’s with you?”

He simply moved aside to give his companion the space to show herself. Rouge smiled fondly meeting Molly’s eyes and immediately took a step inside the room to go and hug the girl. “Hello, sweetheart!” She greeted, also waving quickly at the blue hero. “It’s good to see that you are safe. And you have grown up too.”

“Rouge!” Molly stood up immediately and almost ran into the bat’s opened arms. “I’m so glad that you are here too. I’ve missed you a lot! Now I see where Shadow went last night. How have you been? Is everything OK?”

“Yeah, he came to my new club to say hello. And because he wanted to drag me here as well, I guess,” the thief nodded, shooting a glance to the black hedgehog who hadn’t moved from his spot. “I’m fine, honey. And for what I managed to come to know from our common friend, you’re good as well, aren’t you?”

“I am.” The girl released herself from the friendly embrace. “Let’s sit down. We don’t want the food to get cold, do we?”

Rouge nodded and grabbed the dark creature’s arm, preventing him from taking a seat next to his female companion and forcing him next to Sonic instead. “You stay there. I haven’t seen Molly for more than two years, she and I need a good long talk between girls,” she commanded, gaining a disappointed glare from him and a light chuckle from the human. “Wait for your turn. Meanwhile get along with the other hedgehog there.”

“Women. They are all the same,” Sonic commented quite amused.

“I never thought I would say it, but I agree with you, Faker,” Shadow nodded, taking the place that was assigned to him.

“I’d be nicer with you if you had treated me with more kindness after I’ve offered you as many drinks as you wanted and allowed you to crash on my couch last night, you grumpy,” the bat stated with a smirk. “Now, don’t complain.”

The black hedgehog frowned deeper, but didn’t answered, so the hero took his chance to speak again. “Come on, Rouge, you should know him better than everybody apart from our new human friends. Don’t even think he can be nice,” he laughed. Then he turned to his counterpart. “Hey, Shads. Since these two needs “girl time”, I was thinking…”

“That’s new…” The other mumbled, aloud enough to be heard by all the presents.

The blue blur raised an eyebrow, not too pleased by the comment. “I heard that!” He warned, but then went back to what was saying. “I was thinking, because I _do_ think, that we could go and race again! Last time you weren’t exactly…in your best shape.” He grinned, almost mockingly. “So, wanna challenge me again…Or are you afraid of losing?”

“Why should I want to race with you? I have more interesting things to do,” the Ultimate Life Form answered, immediately lifting a hand to prevent his speaker from retorting. “And, before you start that annoying whining of yours, I really do have something to do. It’s not an excuse. I was planning to pay a visit to the Doctor.”

“You want to see that Egghead? After all the times he has used you?” The other looked sceptical.

“Eggman used him only because Shadow allowed him to do it, I thought you had already grasped that,” Rouge interjected, without even lifting her eyes from the slice of bread she was buttering. “Besides, they had been allies. So why don’t pay him a visit?” She smirked. “By the way, Sonic. Yesterday in the afternoon, after leaving Angel Island, I met Amy. She seemed quite pissed off and she told me that she was going to visit you before lunchtime.”

Sonic immediately stood up and grabbed Shadow’s arm. “Let’s go and say hello to Eggster! I’m coming too,” He said in a hurry. “I haven’t mocked him for his last gaff yet.”

“Oh, that’s a great idea! You two can go together so I can spend some time with Rouge,” Molly exclaimed, but her smile had an unusual malicious shade. “We’ll join you later with Abel. I’m sure he wants to meet Dr. Eggman as well.”

The black hedgehog shot a nasty glare to the two females, and the bat smiled sweetly at him in response. “You’ll pay for this. Both of you,” he sentenced getting up in turn. He looked at his counterpart. “You can come, but waste my time and you’ll regret it.”

“Come on, no need to be so icy! I’ll behave,” the latter reassured, following him outside. “I give you my word.”

“As if the word of a faker could mean something to me.”

“Ah, why do you have to be so mean?!”

The orange-haired girl blinked at the scene. “Rouge, do you think they’ll be okay? I’m not sure we made the right decision forcing Shadow to take Sonic with him…” She commented a bit uncertain. “What do you think?”

“I think that there’s nothing to worry about. The blue one can manage our Shadow. And if he doesn’t, he can always run away,” the thief answered, not at all concerned. “Let them be. It’s just their way to interact. Under the surface they like each other…But they still haven’t admitted that they do. Why don’t you tell me what happened to you in these two years instead? And, especially, who is this Abel guy you have mentioned?”

 

Sonic watched the black figure next to him out of the corner of his eye. Shadow was walking decisively, without even looking at him, as if he wasn’t there. It wasn’t like he minded their current situation. The only thing was that he was used to acknowledge the people who were with him and especially _be_ acknowledged by them, and he usually _talked_ to them. So he could say that the cold tensed silence was _maybe_ making him a bit uncomfortable. On the other hand, he didn’t dare to make a sound. His rival was more than capable to just knock him out and leave him there. After all, he had been allowed to come only because Molly had almost ordered Shadow to bring him as well. Once again, he couldn’t help noticing how much influence the girl had on the other hedgehog. It wasn’t hard to see why. She was like a new Maria to him and it was natural that he wanted to please her as much as possible. He had watched them interact attentively during that short time. It was good for the dark creature to have once again someone he could let himself trust and everything, but still there was something in their relationship that disturbed him, even if slightly. He wished that his counterpart listened to him a bit as well. He was a good ally and a great rival, it would be nice also being friends.

‘Am I jealous of the attentions that Shadow gives to Molly?’ The thought popped up in his mind without warning, and he almost tripped, taken aback. What the hell was he thinking? That was ridiculous. Why should he care if Shadow liked Molly more than him? He admitted it, he would have liked to share some kind of companionship with the black hedgehog, but being jealous? There was no way he was envious about something like that. He had no reason to…

“ _SONIC_!” A voice screamed behind them, interrupting his considerations.

“Oh, not again!” He groaned, stopping and turning to see an approaching, and obviously angry, Amy. “This won’t be good!”

Shadow stopped as well to face the nuisance, an annoyed glint in his red orbs. The pink hedgehog again. She would make them lose a lot of time for sure and he had no intention of getting stuck in some idiotic love quarrel. He contemplated for a moment just leaving Sonic behind to deal with her. He had warned him after all. He didn’t have time to waste.

“Sonic the Hedgehog! Why did you ignore me yesterday?! I was so worried for you after I heard about that robot! I was coming to…” Amy started to complain in a high voice, the hammer already in her hands, but she trailed off as soon as she noticed that her _supposed_ boyfriend wasn’t alone. “ _Shadow_? Is that you?”

“What do you think, Rose?” The black hedgehog asked back, crossing his arms.

She looked at him in shock, forgetting all her fury. “You’re alive then! I can’t believe it! How did you make it?”

“You shouldn’t be so surprised. It’s not the first time,” he simply stated. “Now, would you mind leaving me alone? I’m quite busy at the moment.”

She seemed quite upset by his curt answer, but she decided not to insist and turned her attention back to the hero. “Sonic! You knew he was back! And you didn’t tell me! Why are you always lying and avoiding me?!”

“Amy, listen…” The blue blur took a step back. An angry Amy was something he truly hated. “It all happened too fast.” He winced at the contradiction. How could something “too fast” for him exist? “I didn’t have the time to inform you. But I was planning to do it!”

“And how is this supposed to explain why you ignored me yesterday?” The pink girl tapped her foot impatiently. She really wanted to hear what nice excuse he was going to invent that time. “We were supposed to have a date!”

“A date?” He repeated confused, immediately regretting his slip and instinctively hiding behind Shadow who glared at him as if he was saying: “What do you think you are doing?”

Amy’s green eyes went on fire. “You forgot?! How could you…”

“Can we discuss this later? As Shadow said, he… _we_ are busy right now,” he interrupted quickly, hoping that his rival didn’t betray him. “I need to go with him to Eggman’s headquarter to get back something that belongs to him. Something _very_ important!”

The pink hedgehog halted midair the hammer she had started to lift, once again surprised. “Is that true, Shadow?” She inquired, looking at the darker one. He would tell her the truth. After all, why should he have lied for Sonic?

Shadow stared at her for a brief moment, while the hero hid behind him even more, hands clinging to his shoulder in a silent plea. “Yes, it is true,” he answered smoothly in the end, much to his counterpart’s astonishment. “And I would rather do it quickly, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh, if this is the case…” She nodded and gave a nasty glance to Sonic. “I’ll deal with you later. I’m off. Be safe!” She waved and walked away, muttering something about ungrateful guys.

“Wow, Shads! I wasn’t expecting it from you!” The blue blur exclaimed as soon as she was out of earshot. “Thanks a lot, pal!”

Shadow removed the other’s hands from his shoulders. “I’m not your pal. And don’t touch me,” he said darkly. He himself didn’t know why he had done such a stupid thing like protecting his former ally. “I lied only because I didn’t want to waste more time.”

“Well, it was nice from you anyway. I thought you were going to leave me behind.”

“I thought it too. But I didn’t. Now, will you move? Don’t make me regret my actions, Faker.”

Sonic grinned but didn’t comment as they started to walk again. Maybe, in his own personal way, the Ultimate Life Form cared about him enough not to mind having him around. And that pleased him. He put his arms behind his head. Perhaps he was still in time to start a friendlier bond with him. “Tell, Shadow. Why don’t we run? It would be quicker.”

The dark creature nodded. “And it will allow us to avoid any other setback,” he added. “Go first, I guess you know the way.”

“You bet!” He exclaimed enthusiastically, as he prepared to race. “Stay close to me! We don’t want you to get lost, do we?”

Shadow snorted quietly as he ran behind him. That blue hedgehog became more idiotic any time he opened his mouth. He really couldn’t understand why he still permitted him to stick around. Sure, Molly was glad to see that he tried to bear him to some degree, but that wasn’t the only reason. He shook his head and focused on where he was going. There was no way he would explore his deep motivations. Any time he had done it he had always ended up disappointed. He decided that he could lie to himself for some more time. After all, it couldn’t be anything so important that it couldn’t wait for a more appropriate moment to be faced.

 

The way to Eggman’s headquarter took them five good minutes. The place was quite far away from the town, more than it usually was. The two hedgehogs stood before the building for a moment, arms crossed. Then Shadow started to walk towards it, immediately followed by Sonic, whose grin widened at each step they took. He had the feeling that the visit was going to be fun. The dark creature noticed his expression and gave him a disapproving glare, probably guessing his thoughts, but didn’t comment.

“So, what’s the plan?” The blue blur he asked.

“Wait and you’ll see,” the answer was.

The Ultimate Life Form reached the main entrance and stopped right in front of it. He played a bit with his pendant. There should still be a little bit of energy inside. Enough for what he needed to do. “Chaos…Spear!” The gold lighting left his hand and hit the metal, making it explode. When the smoke cleared, there was just a huge hole in the wall.

Sonic blinked. “Wasn’t that a bit too extreme for a _friendly_ visit?” He commented, as they crossed the newly made entrance. “Egghead won’t just stay there and watch.”

The black hedgehog offered him a little smirk. “I thought you liked lively parties the best,” he stated, calmly. “And surprises as well. Or am I wrong?”

“Oh, I knew you cared in spite of everything!” The hero lifted a fist. “Let’s go! If we run fast enough, Eggman wouldn’t have even the time to understand what has hit him.”

The other nodded. “The control room is in the middle of building. I’ll lead the way this time.”

“How do you even know it is there?!”

“The Doctor always uses the same arrangement of spaces every time he builds a new HQ.”

“That’s interesting! I’ll keep it in mind.”

They speeded along the corridors, ignoring the alarm that had started to howl some moments after the explosion and avoiding the cameras. As they got closer to their destination, they started to hear some voices. One was the scientist’s, who was shouting orders, presumably to his robotic assistants. He had clearly no idea of what was going on. They stopped right in front of the door of the control room, exchanging glances before the darker one pushed the opening button.

“You idiots, how many times do I have to…” Eggman was cursing, but he stopped as soon as he noticed the two hedgehogs.

“Hiya, Egghead!” Sonic waved with a big smile. “Sorry for the door, but Shads likes doing things in style!”

“Shadow! You come out from nowhere and…just blow my main door?!” The madman exploded, incredulous. “What happened to good manners? And what is that blue _thing_ doing with you?!”

“Good morning, Doctor,” Shadow greeted, untouched by the whole situation. “I thought it would have been nice paying you a visit to let you that I’m alive, considering our previous connections. Even if I dare to say that you already knew that. The Faker is here by chance.”

“By chance?! What do you mean?!” The hero complained. “Should I remind you that you and your friends are staying at my place?!”

Eggman puts his hands on his heads. “ _Hedgehogs_ …I hate them!” He growled. Then he turned towards the two robots who had watched the whole scene from aside. “You, go and make some tea. It appears that we have guests.”

“Of course! They destroy the door and get a nice welcome, we work all day and only receive insults and more work to do,” Decoe mumbled in an annoyed tone. “That’s so unfair!”

“I totally agree with you!” Bocoe exclaimed, nodding and pushing his companion out of the room. “But we’d better obey, the doctor is getting angry again.”

The scientist watched his two creations disappearing in the corridor, and then turned to his two unwanted guests. Slowly a smirk crept on his face. Maybe he could turn that unexpected situation to his own advantage. “Let’s go somewhere more comfortable,” he proposed, pointing the door. “I’m sure you have a lot of things to tell me, don’t you, Shadow?”

“Not quite, but if you wish me to talk, I’ll do my best,” the dark creature answered.

“Oh, I’m glad to hear that. So, where have you been?”

Sonic snorted loudly, following the other two out of the control room. He walked behind them, not wishing to take part in the conversation. Not that he would have been allowed to do it anyway. It almost seemed that he had already been forgotten. He couldn’t believe it, Shadow acted at least with a cold politeness around anyone apart from him. And Rouge, but the bat and he had always interacted in that curt but somehow playful way. Even Eggman was getting some of Shadow’s newfound helpfulness, if they didn’t consider the damages of the explosion. What had he done to deserve such a harsh treatment? Did his rival dislike him that much? But if that was true, why had the other shown him some warmth a couple of times? He really couldn’t get it.

He sighed, looking around. They had arrived to an underground level, or so he thought since there were no more windows. The floors looked all the same, made of metal and full of strange machines. He didn’t even want to know what they were, but he was certain that they were somehow harmful. Their current location was even more disturbing. Many doors opened on the corridor, and the ones that weren’t closed showed masses of metallic components and the light of some huge computer. This wasn’t what he would have called “a more comfortable place”. He had a bad feeling about the whole situation.

“Hey, Eggster! Where are we going?” He asked suspiciously. “Unless there’s a tea room hidden somewhere around here, I don’t think this is the place where you usually welcome your guests. Well, I should say where you _would_ welcome guests if you had some.”

“Don’t be rude, Sonic. Even I _do_ have guests from times to times. Although they usually aren’t willing ones.” The man let out a brief laugh at his own joke. “Anyway, you’re right. This is one of my secret levels, not the leisure part of the building. I want to show you something.” He stopped in front of the last door and quickly keyed a code. “This is the last fruit of my undeniable, unequalled brilliance!”

The lights lit up as soon as he stepped in, showing what at first sight was an empty room. The walls were covered with flashing sensors and a circular metallic pillar stood in the centre.

“Wow, have you devoted yourself to modern art, doc? Seriously, an _empty_ _room_?” The hero asked sarcastically, while the other hedgehog kept quiet, his eyes looking attentively around. “For being a product of your genius, this is pretty disappointing.”

“Oh, wait to see what this machine can do and you’ll immediately take back what you just said. This isn’t a normal room, my dear hedgehog. This is my Time-Out Room!” The smirk on the scientist’s face grew wider and gained an evil hue as he took a step back towards the wall. “Do you want me to explain what this “empty room” can do? Or would you rather _experience_ it yourself?”

 

“They have gone _where_?!” Tails exclaimed incredulous. He had come back with Abel from the workshop just five minutes after the two hedgehogs had left to discover that they had gone to throw themselves into Eggman’s tricky embrace. He hadn’t liked the news at all. Being so carefree about their enemy had never led to good results. He remembered too many episodes that proved his worries grounded. He couldn’t believe that Sonic had agreed to go there without any precaution. Or, rather, he did. After all, his best friend possessed even too much confidence in his speed and fighting skills. Besides, having Shadow around sounded like a guarantee as well. “And you just let them go like that?! Have you gone crazy?!”

“Hey, calm down, baby fox! My ears are sensible!” Rouge shut him up, putting a gloved hand on his mouth. That boy at times was a little too hyperactive for her tastes. “Why are you so worked up? Shadow and Sonic can take care of themselves. They are big boys.”

“You don’t understand! Eggman always has a trap ready, just in case he gets lucky for once!” The fox boy insisted. “And he has this time! We need to go and look for them immediately!”

Molly put on a worried expression. When she had met the doctor on Cascade she hadn’t liked him very much, and now Tails’s words seemed to confirm her bad feeling. “Maybe Tails is wrong, but what if it is as he says? We should at least check on them. Just to make sure that they are fine.”

“I agree with Molly. Shadow can take care of himself, but this can mean more troubles than you could ever expect,” Abel stepped in, putting a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Besides, we were already planning to visit this infamous Dr Eggman, weren’t we?”

“Ah, alright, you guys won! I’ll show you the way,” the bat gave up rolling her eyes. “I swear that, if we get there and find them drinking tea, nothing will prevent me from telling you in all the possible ways “I _told_ you, fools”!”

“Deal, Rouge! Now let’s go! The Tornado is already ready,” the little genius said in a hurry, gaining the astonished glance from everybody in the room as he named the fighting plane. “Come on, don’t make those faces! It is just for safety in the case we would be forced to fight! Molly, you said it yourself, didn’t you?”

The others shook their heads, clearly thinking that he was exaggerating the whole matter, but followed him into the hangar without further complaining.


	8. The Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello guys!
> 
> As I promised here is the next chapter! Consider it some sort of Christmas present for all my readers! Thanks a lot for your time, I really appreciate it! Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone! I should see you again in about two weeks! 
> 
> Anyway, back to the story, we have another flashback (yeah, maybe some of you is starting to think that I have a thing for flashbacks xD) about Shadow and Maria. I like to think that around her he is much more open than he usually is, because he feels that she is the only one he can really trust. And I love the idea of Maria trying to teach him to live!  
> Then we got to see what happens at Eggaman's HQ...and it's not good. Molly makes a mess, but what has exactly done the machine to her, Shadow, Sonic and Tails?
> 
> Thanks a lot to everyone who has read the previous chapter! Please, review, your comments are really useful to me!
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Warnings: the story will contain shonen-ai (Shadow x Sonic, Sonadow, meaning male x male), if you don't like, don't read, please!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.

**Chapter 8 – _The Room_**

_More than fifty years before, space colony ARK…_

The starlight bathed the whole room through the big window that was opened in one of the walls. A silent figure sat right in front of it, her blue eyes focused on the planet that emerged from that unlimited black sea that the space was. She was completely fascinated by the sight, even if it had already become more than familiar for her many years before. She had grown up watching the Earth from those windows, staring at its oceans, at its lands, which all seemed at the same time so close that she could reach them just by stretching her arm and so far away that she had the feeling that she would never touch them. The landscape always awoke within her a gorgeous yet still melancholic wonder.

The door behind her back opened and someone stepped quietly inside, not to disturb her deep contemplation, going to stand again the metallic wall. She kept her gaze fixed on the planet for some more minutes, then turned to face the new comer.

“Shadow, you are back,” she smiled gently, getting up to approach him. “How are you feeling? What did they do to you this time?”

The black hedgehog shrugged slightly. “The same things they always do. Exams and exams again,” he answered. “I think they injected me something weird, but I was too numb to notice. I’m feeling a bit nauseous.”

“I should tell grandfather to order them to stop it!” She stated, studying her friend with deep concern and taking his hands between hers. She got worried sick every time the scientists took her companion for his exams sessions. She knew that they always did to him something they shouldn’t, she had grasped it from Shadow’s vague words. Yet, her friend refused to give her any details or to inform her grandfather. She couldn’t bear knowing that he was hurt, but she couldn’t do anything about it if he refused to explain all the time. Her hands were tied. “You aren’t some guinea pig! They can’t use you like that! It’s not fair!”

“Let them do their job. I don’t care what they use while studying me or if they also do something they aren’t supposed to do. I don’t care since it is for a greater goal.” He smiled at her, squeezing her fingers. “I was created for a reason, Maria. And I’m glad I have been, even if I have to suffer all those invasive tests, because I had the chance to be friends with you.”

Maria hit him lightly on the head. “Don’t talk like that. You are a respectable living being as I am. I don’t allow you to talk about yourself as if you were just a tool!” She scolded him in a serious tone. “You are my best friend, my brother, Shadow! It’s true, you were created in a laboratory but you are _alive_ , and nothing can change it. You suffer and feel as we all do. We are all the same.”

“I know, I know…But I just want to be useful to you!” He complained.

“You are not just useful to me. We are _friends_! For me your existence is more than enough. I know you’d give your life for me,” she answered back shaking her head. “And I’d do the same for you. You are bearing those awful things just for my sake…and I can’t ask you to stop, it wouldn’t be fair, but I want you to demand the respect you deserve!”

“But, Maria…” He tried.

“Promise me, Shadow the Hedgehog,” she insisted with force. “Promise me that you’ll stop letting them use like an object!”

Shadow sighed and nodded. When his friend had something into her head nobody could make her change her mind, especially if the matter was about him. “I promise, Maria,” he breathed out. “But don’t tell anything to Professor Gerald. Deal?”

“Alright, I won’t,” the girl reluctantly agreed. It was her turn to sigh. “I don’t get it. Why do you keep quiet about whatever they do to you? We could help you if you only tell me what’s going on. Why are you so stubborn?”

“I don’t want to worry you or the professor in any way. And I don’t want to cause troubles. This project… _my_ project is too important,” he explained patiently. It was always the same scene. Most of the times when he got back from the examination room they had that same discussion. “But don’t worry, they can’t harm me for real. I can take care of myself, and there are people who like me among those humans. Besides, I’m the Ultimate Life Form, remember?”

The last sentence earned him a new grin from Maria. “Don’t boast too much now or you’ll start thinking you are some kind of superhero,” she joked, poking his cheek. “Being powerful brings a lot of responsibilities, you know?”

“Of course I know. But for the moment I’m still just a hedgehog who lives in a space colony,” the dark creature smirked. “So I can boast how much I want.”

“Laugh at me if you want, but when we go to the Earth don’t tell me I haven’t warned you!” She pulled his arms and dragged him towards the window. “You’ll be their hero, Shadow! They’ll _love_ you. And I’ll be your assistant. It’s going to be _great_!” Her voice was filled with joy and enthusiasm. “Everything will be alright!”

“Yeah…It will be like a beautiful dream,” he muttered quietly. “And we’ll live it together.”

The blond girl smiled and nodded and they just stood there for a while, without speaking, hand in hand. It felt too comfortable, too safe to move. All they had in their lives trapped among those walls were each other, but it was enough because they didn’t need anything else. They shared thoughts, dreams, feelings, everything. They had managed to create a more colourful and happier world in their captivity, a place where they could forget, even if just for a short time, about laboratories, illnesses and experiments, a place where only they and their common dream existed. It was the only way to protect Maria’s innocence and Shadow’s hopes, the only way not to get caught by depression and madness. Life was harsh for them, but they also knew that it could be beautiful and exciting. They just needed to hold on.

“Shadow, have you thought about what I told you yesterday?” Maria asked in the end, still gazing at the stars.

“I spent the whole night awake because of it, if I have to say the truth,” he answered, his red eyes looking at her curiously. “And I still didn’t get it. You should stop trying to teach me those things. I don’t understand them. Maybe I’m too different from you humans under that point of view.”

She turned to glance at him in turn. “I don’t think so. I think you have another kind of problem, you stubborn hedgehog. You are _persuaded_ that you’re different. In some way it’s true, nobody can deny it, but it still doesn’t mean that you can’t be one of us. You should allow yourself to get close to other people as you’ve done with me and grandpa,” she said, ruffling his quills. “That’s the only way you’ll understand. You can’t reason around feelings, you need to experience them to understand. Do you see what I mean?”

“I think I do. But it’s not easy,” the hedgehog answered, lowering his head.

She hugged him. “I know, little bro. But now don’t get depressed! I want to see you smile!” She tried to cheer him up. “Why don’t you take me for a run around the colony? It’s so much fun when the adults get all worked up as we passed next to them.”

He let out a chuckle. “You won. Let’s go!” He agreed smiling. “And after that we’ll stop to see the professor. I want him to tell us about his last experiments!”

“Aw, Shadow! But I don’t understand anything about that stuff!” The girl whined playfully, letting him lift her up bridal style.

“I do, instead! It’s your turn to be the one who doesn’t understand,” he teased, tightening his gripped on her body. “Are you ready?”

She put her arms around his neck. “Of course I am! Come on, let’s race!”

 

_Present time, Mobius…_

The plane landed right in front of the metallic building. Tails jumped out immediately, forcing his companions to do the same. The hole in the wall they found as the first thing was quite worrisome and it could mean that maybe the fox’s concern wasn’t completely unfounded. The four stepped inside, looking around. Apart from the signs of the explosion, though, there were no other traces that could indicate a fight. They exchanged confused glances, then Rouge gestured the others to follow her. She had already been there more than once and of course she had exploited her visits to explore the place from top to bottom. She had to make sure that there weren’t emeralds around. Eggman had stated more than once that he had no idea of where the gems were, but he had also said that he knew nothing about Shadow, clearly lying as he was used to do quite too often. The man couldn’t be trusted.

They walked quickly but silently along the corridors. Abel wore a fascinated expression, obviously interested in the technological items spread all around them. It was clear to him that whoever had built them had to be a genius of robotics. Their level of development almost matched the one of the technology of his planet. Moreover, there were some things that he had never seen. He was trying his best not to stop and study every detail that caught his attention. Molly shot him an amused glance despite the tension she was feeling. Her friend would never change. Every time he saw something new and scientific he simply couldn’t resist.

“Where do you think they are, Rouge?” Tails asked as they reached another crossroads. “This place is a labyrinth.”

“Uff, actually I have no idea, kid. But I know that Eggman keeps his most destructive toys underground,” the bat answered, pointing the ground. “If he was planning some kind of party for our two hedgehogs, he surely has prepared something down there. We could check it firstly.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” the young scientist started to say, even if he hadn’t liked the comment about the “destructive toys”. “So, which way…?”

“Hush, everybody!” The orange-haired girl interrupted. “I’ve heard a voice! Somebody’s coming here! We have to hide!”

“Yeah, but where?” The young doctor asked in a whisper. “We are in the middle of a corridor!”

“Then we’ll have to fight our way through the crowd,” the thief stated turning to face their approaching opponents. “We’ll get what we want, don’t worry, science boy!”

Tails looked around quickly. That wasn’t good at all. They were in deep troubles. If they had been captured nobody would have helped their two friends. He mentally took note of starting to work on some kind of device that could make them invisible. It would turn out to be useful in similar circumstances.

They were still standing there, trying to find a solution, when Decoe and Bocoe turned the corner, each carrying a tray with cups, a plate of biscuit and a teapot. The two robotic assistants stopped as soon as they saw the little group, blinking. But after a moment the astonishment on their faces quickly disappeared replaced by annoyance and they both rolled their eyes.

“I can’t believe it! We have even more guests and nobody told us!” The yellow robot snorted. “They could have at least warned us. We would have made some more food!”

“This is the last time that I obey without complaining!” The gray one agreed. Then he turned his attention towards the four. “Are you here to see the doctor too? I bet he told you to join him and the two hedgehogs downstairs…”

Abel raised an eyebrow, confused by the situation, while Molly and Tails exchanged glances, not knowing how to act. Rouge, instead, smirked, pleasantly surprised by the unexpected twist. That was what she called pure luck. Those two idiots were persuaded that they were expected guests, instead of intruders. If they exploited that belief in the right manner, they could get where the doctor was without arousing any suspicion. She crossed her arms and took a step towards their unaware hosts.

“Yeah, that’s it. Eggman is always _so_ rude with you!” She sang in a sympathetic tone. “You work so hard and that is what you get.”

The two mechanical assistants looked at each other, not totally convinced by her sudden display of understanding. The bat had never really cared about them and usually she simply ignored them. But since it was impossible to understand what was going on in her mind, they shrugged.

“Come on, let’s go together then. If the tea gets cold we’ll never hear the end of it!” Decoe said, surpassing them. “We are all going in the same place. Follow us.”

“And this way we can keep an eye on you,” Bocoe added, glaring at the thief. “You can be our guests, but this doesn’t change anything. We don’t trust you!”

“As you wish,” Rouge smirked, clearly amused. Then she glanced at her companions and winked. “I told you we’d make it!”

Tails let out a nervous laugh, hurrying up to match her pace, while the two humans stood still for a moment before following the others in turn. It was too easy, and they didn’t like it at all. When things went too smoothly it was never a good sign. They had to be on their guard.

The group proceeded along the corridors. They seemed all the same and losing the bearings was easier than one would think. The fox boy wasn’t kidding when he had stated that the place was a labyrinth. Metallic walls and doors followed each other, giving a sense of endless repetition and spreading confusion in the mind of who didn’t know the place. The lights got weaker as they approached the lower levels of the building, adding at the picture a slight ghostly atmosphere. Luckily after about five minutes the yellow robot announced that they had arrived and mumbled something about the fact that their boss was most likely boasting about his new invention. Then he pointed the end of the corridor as their final destination.

“What’s in there?” Tails asked, his bad feeling getting stronger.

“Oh, the Time-Out Room,” the gray robot explained. “It’s the Doctor’s last project! Well, to be honest, he’d started to work on it before the Metarex’s incident. He’s so proud of it! But it’s not finished yet, and the trials have shown some technical faults…”

“So he has no intention to use it, has he?”

“Not yet. But he’s on the right road to finish it. Wait, I shouldn’t be telling you this!”

They had almost reached the door, which was half opened, when Eggman’s voice exclaimed in that very moment, interrupting their conversation: “Do you want me to explain it? Or do you prefer to _experience_ it yourself?”

“Wait a sec! Haven’t you just said that this great machine isn’t ready?” Rouge inquired raising an eyebrow. “Don’t tell that Eggman has just decided to use Sonic and Shadow as his guinea pigs for a new test? Because it sounds a lot like him…”

“What?!” Molly exclaimed, incredulous. The black hedgehog had been used for even too many tests in the past, and that was the reason he didn’t like the medical examinations he was subjected to, even if they were for his own good. She couldn’t allow it to happen again she wouldn’t let some madman using her friend for some dangerous test. She had to stop him at any costs. “Shadow!” She flung the door opened, not caring about what she would have found inside. All her thoughts were focused on running to her companion’s side.

“Molly, wait!” Tails yelled behind her, quickly following.

Everything happened too quickly for one of them to do anything. The orange-haired girl collided with an exiting Eggman as she rushed into the room. She fell on the ground, dragging the fox, who had tried to catch her, down with her, while the doctor was sent against the wall, his body hitting by accident the controls keyboard set next to the entrance. Some mechanical arms came out from gaps that opened in the walls and in the ceiling and grabbed firstly the two startled hedgehogs, who hadn’t had the time to move from their spots, and then picked up from the floor the fox and the girl, who screamed taken aback by the unexpected attack. Eggman narrowly avoided them and jumped out of the room.

“Molly!” Shadow shouted, stretching a hand towards his female companion, but the grip on his body was too strong. He was starting to feel numb and he didn’t take him too much to understand that those arms were injecting something in his body. And the looks on the other three’s faces told him that the same was happening to them. He tried to struggle against the lethargic state that was taking over him, but in vain. Whatever it was, that anaesthetic had to be truly strong if it could affect him so much in such a short time. But it wasn’t all, there was something else going on. He could hear a voice calling for him, starting as a whisper and getting louder and louder as he slowly lost the contact with reality. He felt something on his shoulder, but he was too weak to even understand what it was and suddenly around him there was only darkness.

Sonic fought as well against the sudden numbness that had invaded his body when the metallic hand had grabbed him without warning. He wasn’t sure of what was going on. He had heard his eternal enemy’s last words and then had seen Molly and Tails rushing inside and falling. One second later that strong grip had got a hold of his legs and arms. He had done the only thing he had been able to think of. He had reached out for his dark counterpart, who was the nearest person. He was almost sure that his fingers had reached his shoulder, but he couldn’t feel anything anymore. His green eyes wandered towards the door, focusing on the blurry figures that were standing there. They were shouting something, but the words came to him in the form of incoherent sounds. After that, there was nothing and he fell into a deep slumber.

“Let me go! I have to help them!” Abel was yelling as he powerlessly watched his two friends trapped in the room, trying to free himself from the two robots’ grip. “Let me go! _Now_!”

“Stop it, you fool! What do you want to do?” Eggman exclaimed, annoyed by his yells. He wasn’t planning to use his creation for real, especially since Shadow was there too. He just wanted to show off a bit in front of his enemy and watch his face filling with confusion as he explained the technical details of his invention. It wasn’t finish yet and, moreover, it was designed to be used on a single person. He couldn’t predict what was going to happen with four people involved. “You can’t stop the process! You’d just end up like them! And it wouldn’t help at all!”

“But I have to do something! They are my family!” The younger man protested loudly, struggling with more force. “I don’t care if I hurt myself!”

“The doctor is right! Come back to reason, science boy, and use that big brain of yours!” Rouge commanded firmly, but worry was written all over her face. She didn’t like the strange energetic barriers that had enveloped her companions’ bodies, linking them to the pillar. They made the whole thing look even worse. “But I agree with you with, we have to do something. Eggman, could you just tell us what the hell is going on?”

The doctor stayed silent for a moment, as if he was choosing his words carefully. His gaze was fixed on the little screen set right next to the door, which in that moment was showing many data in rapid succession. “It’s not easy to explain. Actually, I have no idea at the moment,” he answered in the end. “I projected the Time-Out Room to trap the blue hedgehog in some sort of timeless limbo, so I would have got rid of him once and for all. But something is not working correctly.” He pointed the screen. “Do you see those data? Well, I need to analyse them because at first sight they mean nothing but troubles to me.”

Abel, who seemed to have finally calmed out a little bit, immediately turned his attention to the small computer. His gray eyes lost themselves in the stream of letters and numbers, following the lines that kept on appearing. “Dear universe!” He let out after a few moments, completely shocked. “Whatever your machine is doing is opening a link to some sort of parallel reality to this one. I didn’t even think that something like that was…! It…It breaks any physical law…It is…It’s not _possible_!”

“It is instead. You’re the one seeing it, aren’t you? This isn’t the time for a physic lesson!” The bat commented. “I’m not entirely sure of what you said, but I got the heart of the matter: this Room has just sent our friends into another world. This isn’t new to me, but there is something I don’t get…If they have been sent in another dimension, why are they still here?”

“The Room has trapped only their minds, while their physical bodies have remained in this dimension,” the madman explained. “But this isn’t our must urgent problem at the moment. The machine needs energy to function and when it has activated it wasn’t connected to its own power unit. And this means that it is taking the energy it needs from somewhere else.”

 Decoe and Bocoe exchanged a concerned look, while Abel got paler. “Don’t tell me that…Is that thing using its hosts’ vital energy to function?! We have to disconnect them immediately!”

“I’m afraid it is. But I need to analyse the data to be sure,” Eggman replied, a deep frown on his face. He had the feeling that the young man was only partially right. The Room wasn’t using the energy of all its hosts. And he could bet on who the real battery was. “I wish I could just do that, but if we break the connection without knowing what’s going on we risk to trapped their minds wherever they are now.”

“Are you saying that they could die in the process?” Rouge questioned.

“Not exactly, Rouge. It would be as if they have fallen into a deep coma from which they could never wake up,” Abel explained, trying to keep his voice still but without success. He wasn’t used to that kind of situations. He had almost never faced a real danger, apart from the explosions that had taken place during his experiments. But they were something he could manage without too many risks. Now the things were completely different. There was something going on, something completely out of control, something that broke all the rules he had studied during his brief life as a scientist. It was so out of reach, so out of his normal thinking schemes. And, moreover, it was threatening his best and only friends’ lives, something that brought back unpleasant memories too. He could feel his mind racing, trying to wash the confusion and the fear away, while his body was at the same time filled with adrenaline and completely paralysed. His family was in danger and he simply didn’t know what to do.

“Hey, breathe, science boy.” The bat’s voice brought him back to reality. She put a hand on his arm. “Don’t panic, Abel. You’re only making things worse. Shadow said you’re a genius, and this means you must be one for real, so we need that brain of yours to work to his highest degree. You and Eggman are the only ones who can fix this ugly mess since Tails is out of the game, so stop being a cry-baby and get a hold of yourself. You want to save them, don’t you? Then you must focus on the matter at hand!”

He nodded, giving her a grateful smile. “You ‘e right, Rouge. I can’t give up that easily. Panicking won’t help to bring them back!” He stated with decision. She was right. He needed to stay calm and use his abilities. It was a matter of science, the most absurd and fascinating he had ever seen, and he had always been the best when it came to scientific problems. He turned towards the other scientist. “Dr Eggman, please, allow me to help you with the data. The planet I come from has one of the highest levels of technology in my galaxy, I’m sure my knowledge will be useful.”

The older man studied him for a moment, sceptical. He could almost see him shaking with enthusiasm. There was no way to persuade that youngster to step aside. “Alright, newbie,” he gave up in the end, sighing. “But I’m the boss and you do what I say! Have I made myself clear?”

“Yes, sir!” The young man stood at attention. “I won’t cause you any troubles.”

“You’ve better not…”

The thief rolled her eyes. In spite of what she had just said, she was more than worried about the whole issue. The two hedgehogs and the fox could take care of themselves, but Molly worried her. It was true, she had fought the Metarex, but she was still just a young girl. Leaving the issue in Eggman’s hands wasn’t the best choice, and maybe letting Abel assisting him was even worse. That guy had turned from desperate and hopeless to enthusiast and impatient in few seconds. He couldn’t be completely sane with those rapid mood swings. She knew that Shadow trusted the human guy and respected the doctor for his abilities, fact that should have reassured her, but she couldn’t deal with them alone. And since Tails was out of her grasp she had to go and get somebody else. She sighed. Knuckles wasn’t going to like this, and he wasn’t going to like the fact that she had decided to drag him into the mess. But she really needed some support and she needed it immediately.


	9. Dream or Reality

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey there!
> 
> Yeah, I'm still alive! I have realised that I haven't posted the ninth chapter here! I'm working on chapter 10, I think I'll post it next week!
> 
> In this chapter: Eggman's machine seemed to have done the impossible. Shadow, Sonic, Tails and Molly have been sent back in the past, to be more precise back to the time where the black hedgehog still lived in the ARK. Sonic, Tails and Molly find themselves in front of Gerald Robotnik, who luckily seemed quite friendly with them. Shadow instead is initially led to believe that he had dreamt all his life since the GUN's attack, but his hopes shatter as he rejoin his three companions. How is he going to deal with it? Can he just stay there knowing that his best friend is fated to die for him or will he try to avoid that?  
> I like to think that Shadow was a bit more carefree before Maria's death, at least when she and Gerald are around. And I have always thought of Maria as a strong and cheerful girl who can still be serene even knowing her fate. She acts much more mature for her age, but she still can be the little girl she should be. Gerald Robotnik is a good version of Eggman, but he is a little less exuberant and acts more serious. Of course this is just my interpretation! Let me know what you think about it!
> 
> Thanks a lot to everyone who has read the previous chapter! Please, review, you'll make a overworked girl happy!
> 
> Enjoy!

**Chapter 9 – _Dream or Reality?_**

Sonic groaned as he came back to his senses. His head hurt a lot and at first, when he tried to open his eyes, his vision was blurred. It took him some moments to remember what had happened. Shadow, Eggman, the damned room, the metallic arms, Tails and Molly. At the thought of his two friends he immediately tried to stand up and look around, but he only managed to make his headache worsen and he almost lost his balance. He caught a metallic surface under his hand, preventing himself from falling on the floor again. He blinked a few time, finally clearing his sight, and he felt something on his shoulder.

“Sonic, calm down. We are all fine!” Tails said, patting his best friend’s arms in the attempt of reassuring him and at the same time glaring at him with concern. “How do you feel?”

He turned to meet his younger companion’s worried face and tried to smile. “I’m fine, I’ve just a headache,” he answered, removing his hand from the wall and looking around. They were in what looked like a small cell, all made of metal, without any opening apart from a small window in the reinforced door. They were standing in a corner of the room, while on the other side, seated on one of the folding beds there was Molly. She seemed to be a bit dazed, but she looked fine. He immediately noticed that the black hedgehog wasn’t with them. “What the hell has happened?! Has Eggster imprisoned us?! And where is Shadow?”

“I don’t think that Eggman has something to do with this,” the fox answered, a bit uneasy. “While you were unconscious some humans came and checked on us. Shadow wasn’t with us when Molly and I woke up.”

“Wait, you said humans? Are you saying we are back in Chris world?” The blue hedgehog was completely astonished. “My headache is getting worse!”

“We could still be in our universe but in another galaxy. There are other races similar to the humans you know in our universe. Just think about Abel’s and mine,” Molly offered, finally getting up. “I tried to ask them where we are, but they refused to answer me. But I can tell you something. They were scientists, all of them. Back at the research station, most of the people I work with are men of science. I could recognise them even without a white coat.”

“I agree with Molly. We have somehow ended up in another research station, but I can’t tell in which dimension,” the little genius nodded, scratching the top of his head. “Eggman’s machine has teleported us, somehow.”

“I don’t like this situation. That stupid thing was called “Time-Out Room” or similar,” the blue blur said crossing his arms. “What if we have travelled time too?”

“It’s a possibility,” Tails admitted nervously. “But I hope we haven’t, because it would be even harder to get back home. I have no idea of how to travel through time. If that was the case, we could only hope that we have ended up in a future where someone can help us going back.”

“Oh, that’s great! We’re in place we don’t know, in a time we don’t know, stuck in a cell in some kind of research station! And we don’t have the faintest idea of how to get out of here,” Sonic exclaimed, sarcastically. “Any other good news?” He let out a low growl. “Oh, yeah. I give you one. I _hate_ being trapped in small spaces!”

“Try to stay calm. Getting worked up isn’t going to help us out. I know it’s hard but you must try.” The fox boy walked around the cell. “We need a good plan and we need it quickly.”

“I’m worried about Shadow,” the orange-haired girl muttered, lowering her eyes. “He was caught by the machine too, I’m sure. He tried to reach for me before fainting, I remember it. I don’t get why he isn’t here with us!” A thought hit her and on her face appeared a horrified look. “What if they have taken him?!”

“Molly, please! This is not the moment to think about that. Shadow can take care of himself!” The young genius sighed. “Don’t panic. It’s the last thing we need now. We all must focus on how getting out of this place. Then we’ll worry about the rest. Understood?”

The blue hedgehog nodded, not to convinced, while the girl bit her lip. “You’re right, Tails,” she said taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry, I’ll try to do as you suggested. It’s the best choice. Let’s get out of here firstly. Any idea?”

“We could try to talk to those scientists the next time they come here. If it doesn’t work, we could always knock them out,” Sonic proposed leaning against the wall, a pensive expression on his face. Getting away wasn’t going to be easy, and probably they would be forced to do things they wouldn’t be proud of. But after all they were in a new and unknown world, without any ally they could count on. And, moreover, they didn’t have any idea of who their enemies were, provided that those humans were enemies in the first place. “Don’t look at me like that. I don’t like the idea either, but I don’t think we have other choices. They will come to feed us sooner or later. We could also force them to tell us where Shadow is.”

“I hate to say it, but I guess you’re right. I don’t see any other alternative,” Molly slowly nodded. “But once we’re out, what do we do? We can’t just run and hope to find a way out, Sonic!”

The hero chuckled embarrassed. “I hadn’t thought about that.”

“Well, we could take one of the humans with us and force him to show us the way!” The fox stated, opening his arms a bit. “After all, for what they know we are aliens and we could be dangerous. If we scare him enough we can persuade him not to play some trick to us.” He noticed that the other two were staring at him, astonished by the calm tone he had used. “What?”

“And you are supposed to be the kid in our group,” the blue blur commented shaking his head. “Did you realise that you have just asked us to kidnap a person?”

“My idea isn’t worse than yours!” The younger protested. “This is an emergency!”

Molly watched the two discussing and couldn’t help finding it amusing. She cracked a little smile, trying to stay quiet but in front of Tails’s pouting face she couldn’t hold back a laugh. Her friends turned to look at her confused and she reached out for the folding bed as a support, as she bent over with laughter. The scene hadn’t been that much amusing, but she desperately needed to break the huge tension she was feeling. Some moments later both the Mobians joined her and started to laugh in turn, even if in a more restrained way. That was exactly what they needed to calm down.

“Hey, what’s going on in there?” A male voice coming from outside asked, interrupting their brief carefree moment. “Stop being so loud. There is somebody who wants to see you!”

They all stopped immediately, catching their breath, a little taken aback by the announcement. They heard some steps approaching and a deeper male voice which was saying: “…sooner, you idiot! Why haven’t you informed me? This is _my_ colony, you work for _me_!”

“We weren’t sure if they were dangerous!” Another man answered, a bit annoyed.

“Dangerous for whom?! They were unconscious! Moreover, there is a girl with them!”He protested firmly. “You should have called me immediately! Especially after what you’ve told me about them! I knew I couldn’t trust you!”

Sonic glanced at his companions, seeing that they were thinking the same thing. Whoever that man was, he seemed to be on their side and it meant that maybe they didn’t need to kidnap or knock out anyone to find a way out of the cell. They might just have to explain everything to him. Besides, from what they had grasped he had to be the boss in that place. But there was something that was disturbing him. His voice was somehow familiar. He was sure he had heard it before.

“We did treat them, professor.”

“You threw them in a cell! Now get out of my sight! You and your colleague. My assistant and I can deal with the matter on our own.” He was now standing in front of the door, his shadow was visible from the little opening. “Remy, please, open the door. I want to talk to our guests. They told me they had awakened.”

“Sure, but be careful with them, professor,” another female voice agreed, most likely the said assistant. “Even if I don’t think they are dangerous, they are still _intruders_.”

“I know. But I’m used to deal with this kind of creatures, don’t you agree?” He stated calmly. He sounded more relaxed now that the two men were gone. “And, besides, I’m sure that they won’t harm us. They’re probably just scared and confused.”

Remy made an amused sound of approval and unlocked the door, opening it and revealing two figures to the three captive. A tall, slim, red-haired woman, surely Remy herself, and a man who looked a lot like Eggman, but with gray moustache and a less egg-shaped body.

Sonic and Tails gaped at him, their minds going back at the video they had seen during their first visit on the ARK, while Molly stared at him confused, noticing his great similarity with the Doctor. The fox gulped quietly and stuttered, silently enough not to be heard by the two humans, the name they had thought they would never heard again: “T-This is impossible…This…This man is… _Gerald Robotnik_!”

 

Shadow woke up with a familiar smell of fresh sheets and disinfectant. He had a great headache and his mind was a mess. He couldn’t recall where he was and what had happened. He felt like he had slept for ages, but it wasn’t the same feeling he got every time he regained consciousness after using all his energy in a battle. He just felt numb with sleep. He slowly raised a hand and rubbed his eyes, keeping them close to give his thoughts the time to reorder. He and Sonic had gone to see the Doctor and that infernal machine had somehow activated, capturing and sedating them together with Molly and Tails. That was what had happened and that was why he was feeling so dopey. So now he had to be or somewhere in Eggman’s headquarter or at Sonic’s place. He only hoped that Molly was fine as well.

He used his arms to help himself in a seated position and slowly opened his eyes, trying to grasp as much details as possible of what was around him. What he saw almost made his heart stop. He was in a cabin, surrounded by metal walls. The place was quite bare, but really clean. On the other side of the room there was another unmade bed, and on the floor there were piles of magazines and pictures representing cities, landscapes and people. Next to each bed there was a little nightstand on which were placed a glass and other various items. He firstly glanced at his own and saw a couple of reports, his Inhibitor Rings and what looked like a walkie-talkie. The matching item to the latter was on the other night table, together with a hairbrush, an elastic band and a framed photograph. On the wall opposite to the room door a big glass window opened on a show of black and silver stars. He stared at the landscape. There was no doubt, he was looking at the open space. It was all so familiar, too much not to be sure. He was back in the ARK and that was the cabin he shared with Maria. Everything was still in place, as it was before the attack. And if her things were still there it may mean that she was…

“Oh, you have woken up!” A voice interrupted his thoughts, bringing him back to reality. He was so lost in his shock that he hadn’t heard the door opened. “Shadow, you made me worry sick when you collapsed out of the blue! You scared me!”

He immediately turned and his crimson eyes found themselves staring into caring blue ones. He opened his mouth, completely stunned and unable to move. Blond hair. Smooth white skin. Light blue clothes. The sweetest smile. Wonderful blue orbs. He felt his own eyes water, out of control. He hadn’t cried since that damned day. “Maria…” He breathed out, not trusting his voice. And one second later he was out of the bed, his arms wrapped tightly around her body and his forehead against her chest. She was _there_ , he could touch her, smell her, feel her warmth. It wasn’t the beginning of another nightmare, it was real this time.

“Shadow! What happened?” Maria asked, taken aback by his sudden show of affection. She was used to hug the hedgehog, but she had never seen him so desperate. “Are you OK?”

“I’m sorry, Maria, I’m _so_ sorry!” He almost cried out, tightening his grip.

She put a hand on his back and stroked his quills with the other. “It’s fine, Shadow, it’s fine,” he whispered sweetly, feeling his tears wetting her blouse. “Did you have a nightmare? Do you want to talk about it?”

“I thought I had lost you forever,” he simply answered, his breath short and his voice broken. It was too much for him. Joy, sadness, astonishment, relief, confusion, hope. His mind was a complete mess again and he couldn’t get a hold of the chaos that had exploded inside him when he had realised he was back _home_ once again. Home. He felt overwhelmed by his own emotions, something that hadn’t happened in a long time. Or rather, that hadn’t happened in his memories, but now he was no longer sure that what he remembered had been real.

“Shh, I’m here, Shadow. Nothing is wrong. You’re safe, it was just a bad dream, a stupid bad dream. You’re awake, it can’t affect you anymore,” she reassured him, taking his face among her fingers and forcing him to look at her. She smiled sweetly at him. “Come on, stop those tears now! You know that I don’t like seeing you cry! You fainted and you’ve been out for some hours, that’s it. Everything is alright.” A chuckle. “You scared grandpa as well, you know? He was there too when you fainted, can you remember it? He jumped on his feet and ran to see how you were doing! I heard him cursing too!”

Shadow closed his eyes trying to recollect the event she was talking about. He succeeded after some moments and many efforts. It felt like it had occurred many years before, but it was clear that it wasn’t possible. Maybe his mind was still confused by the nightmare. ‘Have I…Have I really just dreamt everything? How can it be possible?’ He thought, feeling his turmoil grow. The G.U.N’s attack, Maria’s death, his awakening, Eggman, Sonic and the others, the fight at the ARK, the war against the Metarex, Molly and Abel, his going back to Mobius. ‘Was it all…just an incredibly vivid _dream_? It felt _so_ real…and I feel like I have _lived_ it…’

Yet now he was feeling the girl’s body against him, he was feeling the floor, his own tears, their breaths. It was incredible, but it had to be true. There was no other explanation, he tried to persuade himself. He had just had an awfully long, devastating nightmare. The hell he had seen had never been real, it had been the ill fruit of his mind. And so had been the people he had thought he had met. They were an invention of his subconscious as well. He felt a pang of sadness at that last consideration, but he quickly chased it away. He was back with his best friend, with his Maria. That was the most important thing. It was true, his imaginary companions had given him a lot, but she had always been the only one for him, and that had never change…Had it? He shook his head at his hesitation. Of course it hadn’t. That _couldn’t_ have changed. Only a bad dream, only a bad dream. Nothing of what he had seen had ever happened. And never would.

“I _do_ remember. We should let him know that I’m fine. Because now that I have seen you again, I really am,” he nodded, abandoning his disturbing thoughts and smiling sincerely for the first time after more than fifty years. He didn’t have to think about it anymore. It was no longer his problem now. “Thank you. And again, I’m sorry for scaring you.”

“Don’t worry, it’s fine!” She laughed, drying his still wet cheeks with a handkerchief. “I love you too much to stay angry at you. But don’t do that again! Little brother or not, I’ll hit you next time, understood?”

“I promise this will be the last time,” he said, letting her go and taking a step back. “I love you, too, Maria.”

She titled her head a bit and touched his forehead. “You must be a bit sick, Shadow. You are never this affectionate!” She sentenced jokingly, but she was pleased to hear those rare words.

“Maybe. Or maybe I’m just in a very good mood,” he talked back crossing his arms. “You know, it happens at times.”

“I know it happens. Who do you think I am? _I_ am the one who teaches you, not the other way around,” she pouted, but then she winked at him. “However that may be, I have to find the right way to exploit your unexpected good mood! What do you feel like doing?”

“Why don’t we go and see the professor?” The scientist was very busy being the leader of the space colony, but he hoped that she would agree without mush protesting. Even if technically he had seen Gerald Robotnik only a few hours before, for him it was like years had passed. There was a part of him that still didn’t want to believe that he had just had a nightmare. “I must let him know that I’m fine.”

“He was writing those hideous reports when I left him twenty minutes ago. You know how much he hates being interrupted when he is working on them,” she answered pensively. “Maybe it’s better if we wait, just to give him the time to finish them. Not too much, I think an hour should be enough! We can go and ask Remy to let us know when he is free again.”

He nodded, a bit disappointed, but didn’t protest. “We will wait then. Let’s have a walk around meanwhile. We can look for Remy when the time is almost up.”

“A walk or a run?” She questioned with an amused grin.

He looked at her, hesitating for a moment. He would rather walk, just to see the place again. It was stupid since he had never left it, but he really needed to touch and see everything again. On the other hand, he knew how much Maria loved running along the corridors, speeding as much as possible. He cracked a small smile. He would have other occasions to have a tour. “I guess you would prefer running, wouldn’t you?”

“Of course I would! And since you are in a good mood…”

“…I could please you and let you choose. Alright, you won!”

Maria let out a chuckle as he let the hedgehog lift her up. “Thanks, Shadow. I feel so free when we just go around like that, not caring about what the others yell or think.” Her eyes darkened with sadness. “Everything is just a blur and I can almost forget that nature sentenced me to death. It’s almost as if the time stopped. It’s just the two of us…”

“You won’t die. I won’t allow it,” Shadow stated firmly. The images of the attack burst into his mind, but he chased them away. That wasn’t his reality. “My life exists to save yours, and that is what’s going to happen. You won’t die like that, Maria. We’ll go to Earth and once there we’ll have all the space we need for running. If you wish we’ll travel around the whole universe together. There is a whole cosmos waiting for you out of here.”

“A whole cosmos that is waiting for _us,_ ” she corrected, giving him a new smile. “And you are right. I must think positively! If we are together nothing bad can touch us. My grandfather will find a cure and we both will be free to experience and explore!” She poked him. “Come on, let’s go now! Or are you trying to take time? Don’t tell me that the Ultimate Life Form is afraid of not being able to run for an hour?”

“You shouldn’t challenge me like that, Maria,” he warned, but his tone was almost playful. “I can be really dangerous…You should know it.” He opened the door and went out in the corridor. “But if this is what you really want, then get ready because this time you’ll experience my top speed!”

“Shadow, wait! We can’t go that fast with the people…” Maria tried to say, but he didn’t let her finish and started to run. She let out a surprised scream and tightened her grip around his neck. “Shadow! Slow _down_!”

“No way! This is too much fun, especially the part in which you start yelling again!” He smirked, keeping his eyes on where he was going. “Are you ready?”

“Ready for what?! Why should I scre…?!” Once again the girl couldn’t finish her sentence because her attention got caught by the wall that was getting closer too quickly for her tastes. She tensed up immediately. “Shadow! Watch out!”

He ignored her, heading straight for the metal surface and turning only under the wire, gaining another yelp from his friend. “Sorry, what did you say?” He asked then, clearly amused, shooting her a brief glance.

“You fool! You scared me to death!” She complained, but she was already laughing.

“Oh, I’m just getting started!”

 Shadow sped along the corridors, taking sudden bends without any warning. When they reached the area of the laboratories, he slalomed among the scientists, making them shout in surprise and curse. Maria kept laughing for most of the time, finding hard to catch her breath, and gripped harder on him from time to time. She also yelled some sort of apologise to the people they met, but her words got lost in the speed of the run. The hedgehog couldn’t help but think that maybe he should never stop. His friend was right, the time seemed not to exist and all his worries where gone. That world made of wind and blurry images was all theirs.

Suddenly a well-known voice called out from them, bringing the two back to reality. “Shadow, Maria! Stop!”

The dark creature halted immediately and the girl almost fell down from his arms, taken aback by that sudden stop. They turned to face Remy, who was staring at them from some meters behind them, arms crossed.

“How many times do I have to tell you that you can’t run that recklessly around the colony? It’s dangerous for you and especially for the other people,” she scolded with a sigh. She knew that telling them every time was useless, but she needed to do it at least to keep her conscience clear. “Anyway, that is not the reason why I stopped you. Professor Robotnik wants to see you. There is something you need to see. Or I rather say _someone_.”

The hedgehog and the girl exchanged glances. Someone they needed to see? That was something new. Usually they were always kept away when Gerald had visitors, especially because they were usually high rank soldiers or important people. At times Shadow had been called to be examined in front of some selected experts who had come from the Earth to see how the project was going, but it had happened rarely.

“There are visitors for us?” Maria asked, expressing their common perplexity. “Or maybe some of my grandfather’s visitors want to see us?”

“They are not exactly visitors. I would call them intruders,” the assistant answered, gesturing them to follow her. “The professor actually asked for you only, Shadow, but he said that Maria could come along anyway if she wanted. They are not dangerous. The other way around, I dare to say.”

The black hedgehog kept quiet, sensing a bad feeling slowly creeping inside his mind, while the girl looked even more puzzled. Intruders? In the ARK? That was a big surprised. The security system was inviolable, it didn’t exist any technology able to trick it. Could it be that their intruders were aliens? The thought made her feel a pang of excitement. It would be great getting to know a different kind of life form, especially if they hadn’t evil intentions as Remy had stated. She smiled enthusiastically at the idea. Now she really wanted to see this “visitors”.

She looked at her friend to see how he had taken the news and she immediately noticed his troubled expression. “Is something wrong, Shadow?” She asked in a low voice, not to be heard by the woman. “Are you feeling ill again?”

“I’m fine, Maria, don’t worry,” he answered, immediately hiding his apprehension. He hadn’t intended to show it, but the information had caught him off guard. “Really, it’s nothing.”

She glared at him. “Don’t lie to me, Shadow. I know that something isn’t right. Come on, you can tell me,” she insisted firmly. “I could help you!”

He sighed. “Look, Maria, it’s a very complex matter. And maybe it has nothing to do with the current situation,” he said, uncertain. He didn’t want to speak about his supposed nightmare. He was almost afraid that it could somehow turn out to be real. “The fact is that I…”

“We are here,” the assistant announced, interrupting their conversation. She stepped aside to let them enter before her and pressed the button to open the door.

Shadow completely lost what he was saying as he saw who was inside. His heart, once again, skipped a beat and his mind raced, spreading a feeling of confusion and sickness inside him. The three familiar figures stared at him in equal shock and he found himself staring in emerald green eyes he had thought he would never see again.

“Shadow!” Sonic exclaimed, with both surprised and relief. “Here you are! We were worried sick for you. You had disappeared!”

“What…What the hell is going on here?!” The black hedgehog stuttered, taking a step backwards and gaining a confused look from everybody. “You…You can’t be _real_! It was just a dream…It was just a bloody _nightmare_!”


	10. Incompatibility

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realised I haven't updated this story in more than two years and a half. It's a damn long time. Things got pretty messy and I have mostly grown out of this fandom during the following months. Still, yesterday I stumbled upon the story Word doc and going through it I found out that I never posted the last four chapters (10, 11, 12, 13) I wrote. I decided to put them here even if I'm not sure when I'll actually start working on this story again. College is keeping me awfully busy and stress keeps my inspiration mostly dead. Though, the idea I had for this story was a nice, complex one and I really don't want let it go to waste, so I'm gonna start writing this again, one day or the other!
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> *Disclaimer*: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.

**Chapter 10 – _Incompatibility_**

A heavy silence had fallen on the room, making the atmosphere thick and tensed. Everybody was staring at the black hedgehog, with both confusion and astonishment. Sonic blinked, not fully understanding the meaning of his counterpart’s words, while Tails and Molly exchanged meaningful glances. It was clear to them that Shadow had persuaded himself that he had just dreamt Maria’s death and what had followed it, trying to force himself to believe that the tragedy of his life had never happened and that he could still have a different fate. Their appearance had proved his hopes wrong and the dark creature now had to face his brief but intense delusion. Gerald Robotnik kept quiet, observing the scene with his sharp eyes from behind his glasses. It was impossible to guess what he was thinking. Maria’s expression was instead more readable and showed a deep worry for her best friend. She had took a step toward him and had stretched an arm, not really sure if she could touch him. It pained her seeing him suffer from such turmoil, eyes wide open and incredulous.

“Shadow…What’s going on? Why have you talked about dreams?” She asked urgently. Her friend had been acting strange since he had woken up and she had a horrible feeling about the whole matter. “Do you know them?”

“I…I don’t…I can’t…” He stuttered, not knowing what to say. How could he explain if he himself wasn’t sure of what to believe in the first place? It couldn’t be a coincidence, the three clearly knew him, and he knew them. He could no longer deny it, it hadn’t been a nightmare. But he couldn’t force himself to believe that it was real either. His mind was paralysed and he couldn’t react. It was too much to bear, once again. He shook his head, lowering his eyes. He should have understood that it couldn’t be true. His memories were too vivid to be just the remains of a mere dream. The possibility that the situation was all Eggman’s machine doing had occurred to him, but he had chose to ignore it. He had surrendered to his hopes and now he felt destroyed once again.

He clenched his fists, feeling frustrated, then mentally slapped himself. He was Shadow the Hedgehog, he _had_ to react. He had already faced many difficulties during his life, so he had to be able to face a simple delusion, no matter how painful it was. He let out the breath he didn’t realised he was holding and removed his eyes from the floor, succeeding in pushing his inner distress under the surface.

“It’s OK, Maria. I’ll explain everything,” he stated calmly, but his voice sounded much colder than he meant it to be. “But firstly…” He took some steps forward, stopping almost right in front of Sonic, and turned his attention towards the orange-haired girl. “Molly, you are an _irresponsible_. What if Dr…Eggman’s machine had been a lethal weapon?” He hesitated for a moment on their opponent’s name, deciding for the nickname. He couldn’t tell Gerald that his grandson would become an evil madman. “You could have hurt yourself.”

“But Shadow! I needed to do something to help you!” She protested, taken aback by his sudden cool temper. “It’s true, I followed my instinct, and this mess happened but I…don’t regret my actions!” She lowered her gaze. Maybe if she had waited they wouldn’t have been in that situation and her friend wouldn’t have found himself forced to confront with all he had lost once again. “I’m only sorry for what you will have to suffer…”

“Hey, Molly! Don’t let yourself down! You and Tails did nothing wrong,” the blue blur interjected, seeing the sadness in the girl's eyes. “Come on, Shadow, she only wanted to help!”

The Ultimate Life Form looked at him, his crimson orbs storing directly in green ones. “Mind your own business, Faker,” he said sharply. “Nobody asked for your opinion and…?!”

He couldn’t finish the sentence because something suddenly hit him on the head. He turned to see what had happened and found Maria standing beside him, arms on her hips and a disapproving expression on her face.

“Shadow the Hedgehog! Since when have you become so rude?” She scolded glaring at him. “I thought I’ve taught you some manners!”

Shadow gaped at her, caught off guard and unable to retort. “Maria!” He only managed to say, causing his three companions to chuckle. Seeing him astonished and silenced by a young girl wasn’t something they had the chance to see often.

“Sorry if I interrupted this friendly reunion, but I think it’s time for explanations, Shadow,” the professor spoke, exploiting the moment of silence that followed the scene. “Let me guess. You are not “our” Shadow, are you?”

“No, I’m not, professor,” the hedgehog answered, not sparing a nasty glance to the other four. Then he turned serious again. “We come from the future, or at least that’s what I guess. What do you think, Tails?”

The fox boy put on a pensive expression. “I’m not totally sure even if the situation seems to suggest it. I know nothing about the machine that has sent us here, so I can’t be entirely sure,” he answered carefully. He looked at the scientist. “You see, we’ve been caught by a machine built by our enemy and it seemed to have sent us back in time. But it happened by accident, we have no idea of what the real purpose of that project is. Besides, the thing isn’t finished and doesn’t function correctly. The only thing I know, or, rather, I _believe_ to know, is that we are trapped in this time, in Shadow’s past.”

“Uhm…A time machine, fascinating. Whoever has built it must be a genius,” Gerald mumbled, pensive. He looked genuinely interested. “You are the scientist of the group, aren’t you? It’s Tails, isn’t? I think we should discuss the technical details of the matter together. I’ll help you to find a way to go back to when you belong.”

“Uh…T-Thanks, professor Robotnik,” the young genius stuttered, caught by surprised. He had never expected the man to be so helpful. He was a completely different person from the one he had seen on the video during the ARK incident. But, after all, this Gerald Robotnik hadn’t faced the tragedy of losing his beloved Maria and his dreams yet. He was a good person who would end up going crazy because of the pain, he thought sadly. “And yes, my name is Tails. Actually I’m Miles Power, but everybody call me that way and I prefer it to my real name.”

“No need to thank me, Tails,” the man nodded. “I suggest that you come with me so we can discuss the matter in my laboratory. Examining some data should make it easier. Maria, Shadow, I’ll leave our other two guests to you. Find them a cabin. I am afraid they would stay with us for some time considering the complexity of the case.”

“Sure, grandfather! Don’t worry, I’ll take care I them,” the girl immediately agree with a warm smile, while Tails shot a worried glance to his friends. It was clear that he wasn’t fond of the idea of being alone with the scientist.

Shadow noticed it and approached the fox. “He is not Eggman. And he isn’t the crazy man you have seen either,” he said, so quietly that only the young genius could hear him. “You can trust him, don’t worry. He won’t harm you in any way.”

Tails blinked in surprise at that, not expecting the black hedgehog to come and reassured him, but when he turned to thank him he found that the other had already walked away and was now standing by Maria’s side.

“Come on, follow me! There is a free cabin next to one I shared with Shadow,” the blond girl was saying, gesturing the door to Sonic and Molly. “I was thinking that, since there is another girl, you, Molly, should sleep with me and Shadow should join the other guys.”

“Why should I? I’m fine in my cabin,” the dark creature protested. He had no intention of sharing a room with his former allies and especially to leave his best friend. Now that he knew that the tragedy hadn’t been a nightmare he wanted to spend as much time as possible with her. And maybe, he mused, he could just stay in the past and try to prevent the events from going the way they had gone. He didn’t care if that would mess up the whole future. He had the chance to succeed where he had failed and he wasn’t going just to stand and watch it happen again. He wouldn’t let Maria to die again before his eyes. At any cost.

“Why shouldn’t you?” She asked back as they started to walk in the corridor. “They are your friends after all.”

“They are not all my friends. Only Molly is,” he corrected. “The other two are my former enemies and allies.”

“Yeah, our Shadow was one of the bad guys at the beginning,” the blue hedgehog interjected with a little smirk, seeing the girl’s confused expression. “He even tried to kill me once. It happens during war, you know…” The sentence earned him a nasty look from his counterpart. His grin widened even more and he hooked an arm around the other’s shoulders. “But I’ve forgiven him long ago. After all, none of us will be here if it wasn’t for him. He saved us all, together with the Earth and the universe, _two_ times! He is not as bad as he wants to appear, deep inside.”

“It’s true! He saved my life as well,” Molly added nodding. “And in the last two years he and another guy have become family for me…”

“Oh, I knew it!” Maria grabbed the black creature hands, excited, stopping in the middle of the corridor. Her eyes were shining with joy and curiosity. “You are a hero, Shadow. I told you that it was your destiny! And tell me, is Earth as beautiful as we imagined?”

“I was just keeping a promise…” Shadow mumbled, lowering his eyes and freeing himself from the blue blur’s grip. “Earth is a difficult place. Life is so strange, people are strange. But yes, it’s wonderful as we’ve imagined. Cities, nature, the sky, the ocean…Everything is breathtaking and terrible at the same time.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I can’t wait to see it!” She said softly, a little hue of melancholy in her voice, making the black hedgehog clench his fists even more. She sought his gaze, but without success. “What’s wrong now?”

He shook his head. “It’s nothing. Just…It’s difficult to deal with so many memories,” he answered, putting on a blank expression and facing her questioning eyes. “Especially considering that some of them are not exactly pleasant.”

“I know, but you mustn’t give up, Shadow.” She brought her hands to her chest. “Life has ups and downs, but we need to fight for what we believe in and for the people we love. That’s the only way to be happy.”

The dark creature’s eyes hardened. “Happiness…I really wish I could still believe your words, Maria,” he stated harshly, then he turned away from her. “Excuse me, I need some time on my own.” He took some steps away from them and stopped. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. After that he started to walk again and disappeared behind the first corner.

“Shadow…” Maria lowered her head and sighed. That hedgehog was different from the one she used to know. It was still the same person, she could see in him the things that made Shadow himself, but the bitterness and the rabid pain he carried were alien to her. He must have suffered immensely and she could see it clearly. But what saddened her more was the awareness that she couldn’t do anything to sooth his sorrow.

“Ah, don’t worry about him, Maria. He has become like that. Such a bad, lunatic temperament! He’ll be back as soon as his mood gets better,” Sonic spoke, trying to cheer her up but in vain. He sighed in turn. “Come on, let’s do this then. I’m going to get him and force him to stop all his angsty ways. He did nothing but spoke about you all the time and now he just leaves you like that? No way am I letting him do it. Show Molly the rooms, I’ll be back soon.”

“Sonic, I’m not sure it’s a good idea…” Molly tried to stop him. She knew too well how their friend became when he was in such a bad mood. “I think it’s better leave him alone…”

“Ah, I can manage him and his mood swings,” he reassured her, waving a hand. Then he winked at both girls. “I’m a hero too after all! See ya later!” And a moment later he was gone.

The orange-haired girl shook her head exasperated. Those two hedgehogs, both so stubborn. When they had something in their mind, nobody could make them change it, even if they were obviously wrong. She massaged her temples slowly. Worrying about them was the last thing she needed. Not only she had woken up in a cell, but then she had discovered that they were most likely stuck in the past. Luckily Gerald Robotnik had turned out to be helpful and kind with them. He had listened to their absurd story and had believed them. She didn’t want to think about what could have happened if he hadn’t.

“Come on, let’s go. I’ll show you our room. Sonic is right, we don’t need to worry,” Maria said, putting a hand on her arm and bringing her back to reality. “You must be exhausted and disoriented! Travelling time can’t be something easy. When you feel better, I’ll show you around the colony. What do you think?”

“It would be great. Thanks a lot, Maria,” she nodded as he followed the other girl. “You are really the angel Shadow always describes.”

“Angel? Does he talk about me in those terms?” The blond asked surprised.

“He had never said it directly, but it’s clear that it is what he thinks of you. He loves you in a way I have never seen before,” Molly smiled sadly. “You are his light and his point of reference. The most important person in his life.” She chuckled lightly. “I must admit that I was a little jealous at the beginning, but then I got to understand better how he felt about you and I just accepted that I could never take your place. And I don’t want to. You are the only one he really listens to.”

Maria smiled in turn and her eyes became bright with tears. “I…I’m so glad to hear that he cares so much about me. I already knew…But I’m happy to see that he’ll never forget me…” She stuttered, her voice filled with emotion. “That’s the best thing you could have told me.”

The orange-haired girl just nodded and patted her shoulder. It was so odd talking to Shadow’s obsession. She was as she had imagined her, so pure and innocent but at the same time too aware of things that she shouldn’t know. She lived knowing that maybe she would always be confined in that space colony, and Molly had the feeling that she had already guessed that she was not a part of the black hedgehog’s life anymore. In spite of everything, she didn’t show any fear or regret about her situation. She was full of hopes and dreams, and tried her best to be optimistic. She had never met a person like her and she admired her will power. It wasn’t difficult to understand why Shadow had loved her so much.

Maria met her eyes and gave her another sweet smile. She could almost guess Molly’s thoughts in her expression. She had always had a great empathy and she was able to read people easily. That girl from the future was a good person, she was sure, and she was glad to know that she was by her best friend’s side. Shadow needed someone who took care of him. He could be so unstable and lost at times. He needed somebody that could teach him to live. She bit back a sigh. She couldn’t blame him for not being able to understand. She herself had some troubles in seeing the light through the black of the open space that surrounded the ARK. In those moments she only wanted to curled up and cry. Cry for her cruel fate, for the freedom she had never tasted, for the planet she couldn’t touch. But she knew that it would have made things worse. She needed to stay strong, for herself and for her companion. She closed her eyes for a moment. It didn’t matter if they were fated to be separated, she knew that her spirit would never leave him. She hoped that one day he would understand it and started to live for himself.

 

Sonic wandered around the corridors, not really sure of where he was going. That place was huge and apparently completely deserted. He hadn’t met anybody since he had left Gerald’s office. Moreover, it seemed that the professor and his grandson shared the same taste for labyrinthine buildings. He wondered where all those scientists had gone. Not that he missed them, but he had thought that they would have been everywhere. Maybe he was in an area where only authorized people could go. He tried to recall the memories of the first time he had visited the colony, looking desperately for a clue that would guide him through that maze, but now the building seemed completely different.

He turned the umpteenth corner, ready to admit that he had got lost, but he stopped immediately his track. At the end of the hallway there was a half opened door. He walked towards it slowly and pushed the metal surface as soon as he had reached the threshold, revealing a room with glass walls showing the spatial landscape in all his beauty. The stars seemed to shine brighter and the figure of the Earth dominated the view with his vortexes of clouds. Seated front of one of the windows there was Shadow, apparently completely lost in his thoughts. His face was blank but his eyes wear a restless sparkle that expressed his real state of mind. The blue blur stood for some moments, studying his rival, before approaching him.

Shadow looked away from the glass as he noticed someone sitting down next to him and he couldn’t help his surprise when he saw who he was. For a moment he thought of chasing him away, but then he decided against it and simply kept quiet, moving his gaze back to the landscape. The two hedgehogs spent some time quietly admiring the view and watching the stars shine in their eternal light. The blue one threw from time to time some glances at his counterpart, who instead seemed to have forgotten about his presence, trying to understand what he was thinking but without success. He had no choice, he had to try to talk to him.

“I had forgotten how gorgeous the space was,” he commented intertwining his fingers behind his head. “I could stare at it for hours!”

“Why don’t you do it then instead of bothering me, Faker?” Shadow asked coldly, without looking at him. “I thought I told you that I wanted to be alone.”

“I heard what you said, but I couldn’t just let you leave like that. You’re making Maria worried sick. And Molly isn’t happy either,” he answered, shooting the other a meaningful glance. “I thought you wanted to keep them both safe and happy, especially Maria.”

“You shouldn’t talk about things you don’t understand. You know nothing about me,” the Ultimate Life Form stated coldly, his voice getting even darker. “Don’t judge me, you don’t have the right to do it.”

“I’m not judging you, Shadow. I’m just saying aloud what you’ve surely been telling yourself. And, trust me, this time I can see where the matter is. It’s so obvious that even I have grasped it.” Sonic cracked a small grin at his half-joke. “You deceived yourself thinking that everything was back to the happy part of your life. And facing a similar delusion is never easy.” His gaze got lost among the stars. “It’s true, I don’t know you well, but I’ve learnt a lot more than you think while fighting with you. Besides, I know what losing a friend means. I had my bad experiences too, you know? Even if it’s not your fault, even if it was unavoidable…The memory haunts you anyway, and it most likely will for the rest of your life, because you can’t chase away that doubt, the one that tells you that maybe you could have done something to prevent it for happening.” He could feel Shadow’s intense and inquisitive gaze on him, but he tried his best to ignore the strange feeling that it raised in his chest. “Maybe my experience hasn’t been as destructive as yours, but I can imagine it. I love Tails as you love Maria. I don’t know what I would do if I lost him. It would kill me for sure.” He shook his head and sighed. “But even if it happened, I’d force myself to react and go on, because I know that my little bro would want that from me. And I’m sure that Maria wishes the same for you.”

The black creature kept quiet for some time, reflecting on what his rival had just said. Once again the blue hedgehog had surprised him. He would have never expected those words from him. He couldn’t deny that he agreed with the other’s speech. There were still some pieces missing, but the general concept reflected the truth of his situation. He had never forgiven himself for Maria’s death and he wasn’t sure that he would ever be able to do it. Her memory never left him, not even in his sleep, and he clang on it with all his strength. He himself wasn’t ready to let her go. That was why he now found so difficult and wonderful at the same time to have her back with him. He didn’t know what to do. A part of him just wanted to stick at her side and change the course of time, but there was a voice in his head that kept repeating that there was nothing he could do and that in the end he would experience that terrible loss once again.

However, there was something that Sonic hadn’t considered: how different they were and the distance that separated their points of view. The hero had ideals that supported him, people that believed in him and a place where finding a refuge in bad times. He, instead, had only that old promise to which he could turn when he felt lost. His nature made him stay away from the others and he had no home to go back. He lived in the past, struggling among painful memories and a present that had nothing to offer to him. He was fated to lose everything he would conquer during his most likely never-ending life.

“I wish it was just a matter of choice,” he muttered in the end, looking at his hands. “I’m not as free as I’d like to believe, as _you_ normal living beings are. I wasn’t born, I was _created_ and with a precise goal. My own nature imposes me limits that I mustn’t forget if I want to survive. This is what you’ll never understand. Nobody can get it because I’m the only one who knows what it means.”

He clenched his fists, feeling suddenly frustrated. That whole situation had filled him with stress and tension, and he couldn’t take it anymore. It was like all those years of silent mourning and anger had fallen on him with their weight in the moment he had found himself at the ARK again. He was going to explode. Normally he would have never shown his weakness, especially to his rival, but at the moment he couldn’t care less if Sonic was the one listening. “I’m tired of all this. Tired of all those words about living, about happiness and friendship. Tired of this normal life you love so much. I need crisis, I need a precise task to accomplish, I need to fight. That’s the only kind of existence I can live. Your kind of life doesn’t belong to me, and it will never. Because I will be force to pay with sorrow and loss every second of serenity that I’ll allow myself to experience!” He hit the floor with his fist so hard that the metal caved in under his hand.

He stared at the hole, taken aback by the intensity of his own rage, and then stood up, turning his back to his speaker and walking towards the wall. He shouldn’t have gone so far, he was losing the hold on his emotions. Being sent back to the place that had been his only home and to Maria’s side was slowly breaking his self-control. He felt like he was going crazy. He couldn’t prevent his mind from mixing the past and that new “present”, from fearing that everything was going to happen again. Looking at his best friend brought back both the light of hope and the dark colour of blood, touching her made him feel both an almost forgotten joy and the sorrow that had scarred him deeply inside. At the same time he wanted the time to stop, leaving him forever inside that happy fake limbo, and he wished to run away, to escape from that delusional dream that would soon make him died inside once again.

Sonic watched the dark creature struggle with his turmoil, not knowing what to do. Shadow’s words had disturbed him, even if he still wasn’t grasping their real meaning. He didn’t understand why his counterpart had stated that he would have to pay for every second of happiness. It wasn’t a mere show of pessimism, there was some kind of solid reason behind it, but he couldn’t see which one. Maybe the black hedgehog was right, he really didn’t know anything about him. But, even if that was true, he couldn’t just stay there and watch while his rival was torn apart by pain and regret. He had to do something.

He stood up in turn and approached the other. He had never been good at comforting people, he usually left them their space to think. However, he knew that if he had left Shadow alone in that moment the other would have just gone on drowning among his contrasting feelings. He could try to talk to him, although he had the feeling that they would end up fighting. He didn’t want the dark creature to shut him out, not now when he finally had the chance to show him that they could be friends as well as rivals, but he had no choice.

He followed his instinct and grabbed Shadow’s arm, forcing him to face him. Then he moved his hands on the other’s shoulders, holding tightly on them, and stared right into those crimson orbs. He could feel the dark figure shaking with rage and frustration under his palms, and the abyss in his red eyes seemed even deeper and more dangerous than usual, but he tried to ignore the discomfort he was feeling and focused on his task. “Stop that, Shadow. You are not going anywhere. Future, past…They are important but only to some extent,” he stated, trying to keep his voice still. “Maria is with you again. You have a second chance, even if it will be only for a short time. Why don’t you just forget for once that you are the Ultimate Life Form and give yourself the time to understand what you, as a person, need to do?”

Shadow tensed immediately at his words and took a hold of the blue blur’s wrist, pulling him and crashing him against the wall. “Only because I’ve exposed you my feelings in a moment of weakness, it doesn’t mean you can act around me as you do with your little friends,” he warned darkly. One of his hands was still gripping at the hero’s arm, while the other was pressed on his chest to prevent him from escaping, dangerously near his throat. “I already told you. You can’t understand me. Accept it. I don’t need your help, I don’t need your friendship, I don’t need _you_. Stay out of my way or you’ll regret it, hedgehog.”

Sonic couldn’t help swallowing quietly, feeling his uneasiness getting stronger and stronger. The light in the creature’s eyes told him that he wasn’t kidding and he would have lied if he had said that it wasn’t worrying him. But he wasn’t going to let the other control him. He held that crimson gaze defiantly. “Are we back to threats, Shads?” He smirked, faking a confidence he didn’t have in that moment. “Well, you’d better teach me a lesson immediately because I’m not going to stand aside and watch you destroy yourself. I’m sorry to inform you, but I consider you a friend and I don’t give a damn if you don’t like it. So, what do you wanna do?”

The dark creature tightened his grip near the other hedgehog’s neck and inched a bit forward. “You are playing with fire, hedgehog,” he stated coldly. His voice was almost a whisper and that made it sound even more intimidating. “Are you really sure you want to get burned?”

“Danger is my middle name,” the blue blur answered cockily, trying his best not to lower his eyes. “You should know that.”

He hadn’t realised how close they were until he had felt Shadow’s breath on his skin while the other was talking. He was being almost literally pinned against the metal surface and there were mere centimetres between their bodies. They had been physically close during combats, but the contact had never lasted more than some seconds, and now that it was prolonged he couldn’t help noticing that it was making him uncomfortable. But it wasn’t the same kind of uneasiness that he had felt before. It had nothing to do with the dangerous aura that was surrounding his rival, it was some sort of strange warm feeling that he had never experienced before. ‘What the hell is wrong with me?!’ He thought, trying in vain to struggle against it. He finally lowered his gaze, hoping to sooth the unsettling sensation.

The black hedgehog didn’t fail to notice his sudden change of attitude and focused on him even more, trying to understand what had caused it. “Already giving up your cockiness, Faker?” He asked, raising an eyebrow. “I was expecting something more from you.”

“You wish I was! I just decided that you’re being too stubborn to use your brain,” Sonic teased, looking at him again briefly. Lowering his head hadn’t been the smartest move because he had caused his counterpart to speak right into his ear, which had made his discomfort grow even more. “Would you mind letting me go now? This position isn’t really comfortable, you know!”

The Ultimate Life Form took immediately a couple of steps back, as if he had just realised their situation, and crossed his arms. “I wouldn’t take it so easy, if I were you. Watch your mouth from now on or I could be less permissive next time.”

The blue hedgehog grinned widely, finally feeling free to breathe and move again. “I’ll be ready to face your rage once again, then,” he talked back. His confidence was back now that he was no longer trapped, but he was somehow too aware of the lack of the contact. “Have you calmed down? Shall we go back to the girls?”

Shadow nodded. “I think we should. I couldn’t stand another minute alone with you,” he said as he turned towards the door. “You’d better follow me or you’ll get lost.”

“Ah! When you aren’t trying to kill me, you act mean,” Sonic complained following him. “Why can’t I have another kind of treatment?”

“Stop hitting my nerves and I may act a little less harshly with you,” he answered, shooting him a nasty glance. “But I’m sure you can’t do it.”

“Do you really think so low of me, Shadow? Maybe I’m doing it on purpose,” the hero stated playfully, daring to put an arm around his shoulders. “What do you think?”

“That you are _stupid_ enough to do it,” the black hedgehog stated coldly, but this time he didn’t move away from the friendly grip. “Now shut up before I’ll crash you into another wall.”

“As you wish, Shads!” Sonic smiled widened even more seeing that the other hadn’t rejected him. Maybe, despite the previous reaction to his words, the dark creature had somehow appreciated his attempts to help him out. He hadn’t messed up everything between them after all.


	11. Scars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Warnings*: This chapter contains references to terminal illness and unorthodox medical research, hints of depression and (original) character's death.
> 
> *Disclaimer*: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.

**Chapter 11 – _Scars_**

_About two years and half before, research station…_

Abel stared at the paper he was holding, a deep frown on his face. The data he had gathered from his last experiment had left him quite perplex. He was expecting something different. There had to be some variable that he hadn’t considered. Now he had to find out which one and then repeat the tests once again. He sighed, nodding to himself. He had another week of studies ahead of him. Not that he minded too much, he loved his job after all. But he had hoped to have some more free time to work on his personal projects. They would have to wait.

“Come on, Abel, don’t look so disappointed! Even a genius like you can get it wrong from time to time,” the department head said, patting him on the shoulder. “We’ll soon find out what’s gone wrong. Instead of spending your time staring on those numbers, why don’t you come and have lunch with us? The others have already gone downstairs.”

The young genius shook his head, forcing a smile. “It’s OK, Mike, I prefer staying here and work on the data for some more time. I’ve got an idea of what the error could be and I want to test it,” he answered quickly. He was lying, as always. “Besides, I’m not really hungry at the moment.”

The other shrugged and took of his white coat. “As you wish. If you change your mind, you know where we are! You should learn to relax, Abel. You are still so young.”

“I try my best.”

“I don’t think so…But, man, it’s your life. Good luck with your idea, boy genius!”

The young scientist watched the older man leave and sighed again as soon as the door was closed. He had appreciated the invitation, as he always did, but he also knew that it was a mere practice. Mike always waited for the two of them to be alone and invited him to join the group, even if he knew that he always refused. He was sure that his colleague had already given up the hope of receiving a “yes” as an answer, yet he still carried on their little ritual, maybe just in case that a miracle happened. But it was almost impossible. Abel didn’t feel like joining them, especially since he was not well accepted by most of his older colleagues. He was maybe the youngest researcher in the history of his people and he was for sure one of the most brilliant men that the planet had ever seen. He was esteemed for his genius and abilities, but all the likings stopped there. Because of his odd manners the others had learnt to stay away from him. He was unable to think about something that wasn’t a scientific matter or a puzzle that had to be solved and he was a real disaster when it came to interpersonal communication. He never knew what to do or say. Besides, his brilliance usually made his speakers so uncomfortable that they usually made up an excuse to flee away. He was aware of the problem and he had been for a long time, since he was still a kid. His parents, who now lived far away from the city where the research station was, had tried hard to teach him how to interact with people but he simply seemed unable to do it. It was just too hard. And then there was that huge mark in his past that he couldn’t delete or hide in any way.

Abel shook his head and lowered the paper. At times, when he saw his colleagues laughing together or simply exchanging comments about their days, he felt a pang of envy in his chest watching helplessly the friendly contact that he simply couldn’t manage to establish. Other times, when he was in a more optimist mood, he just told himself that one day he would find someone able to understand and befriend him without feeling inferior or judging him for his clumsiness. Someone who wouldn’t care about what he had done, about his past mistakes.

He absentmindedly caressed his chest, his hand going slowly up and down, following the scar hidden under the cloth. He was just an adolescent when he had imprinted that purple mark on his body. His life could have been a common one if he hadn’t tried to break the natural laws. When he was fourteen they found out that Rachel, his younger sister, had cancer. It had attacked her pancreas first, silently invading her whole body. Because of the lack of symptoms it had been caught too late to do something to save her life. The only thing the doctors could do was soothing her pain during the final months. His parents had been destroyed by the news, but they tried to be strong and supportive towards Rachel. She herself had accepted her fate, even if she was still so young. She had always been much more mature than her other peers.

He, instead, hadn’t wanted to believe that nothing could be done and had stubbornly looked for a cure. He meant no harm, he was only a boy who was trying to save a girl who not only was a blood relative but who was also his best friend. He had locked himself inside his lab and had spent hours down there, in the basement, studying the cancerous cells, day and night, often skipping his meals. Nobody had been able to drag him out of there for weeks. He was desperate and he could fight the pain of the imminent loss only by clinging on that absurd hope, that impossible desire to find a way to defeat death.

The young scientist smiled sadly at the memory. He had faced more failures during those fateful days than during his entire life. But he kept going on, unable to give up in front of the obvious. Then, incredibly, he had found something. Or so he had thought. It was a modified virus which seemed able to recognise the ill cells and attack them, causing their destruction. He made many trials and it worked perfectly, at least in vitro. The problem was finding a living being on which testing it to be sure that it wouldn’t cause some unwanted reaction once in contact with the organism. He was against animal testing and, if it hadn’t been his principles to prevent him from using some guinea pig, the law would have. It wasn’t an official trial so he couldn’t request any virtual simulation and he didn’t possess the technology to make one by himself. There was only one option, only a single subject who would allow him to test his treatment. Himself. It was still against the scientific ethic since it was a form of human testing, but he didn’t care. It was his own life and he was more that glad to risk it for Rachel. He would have faced the consequences. So, without any hesitation he had implanted the cancerous cells in his skin and, after waiting few days for them to develop, had injected the virus in his body as well. Then he had waited for something to happen.

Some time had passed and nothing bad had occurred, fact that had made his hopes grow higher and higher. The tests showed that ill cells were getting smaller even if slowly and that their number had dropped. Everything was going as he was expecting and he was ready to believe that he had reached his goal. At least until hell had exploded.

It had started in the form of a small rash on his chest, as if it was a slight allergic reaction. He had treated it carefully but he hadn’t considered it as something really serious. His mind was focused only on the response of the cancer to the virus. Then, one afternoon, he had suddenly started to feel numb and he had fainted. When he had woken up his entire body was on fire, tormented by the higher fever he had ever experienced. In a two days time the rash had expanded becoming a purple exanthem that covered most of his trunk and the pain had become unbearable, no matter how many painkillers he took. His parents were still at the hospital with Rachel so, in the confused state in which his mind had fallen, he had somehow managed to drag himself upstairs to call the ambulance, caring to take the reports of his experiment with him.

He had been careful enough to make sure that the pathogen wasn’t infective so he hadn’t risked an epidemy, but the doctors didn’t really know what to do to treat him and at the end had opted to send to the research station where he now worked. They had kept him there six months before being able to remove every trace of the virus from his body. He could have died writhing with pain if they hadn’t found a cure and he was well aware of that. Instead he was left with a purple scar to remind him of his craziness and his arrogance.

However that experience hadn’t been only destructive for him, though he had realised it months later. Short after he had been discharged his sister had died and he had been drown by the painful sense of helplessness and defeat, which had burdened him so much that he had lost interest in everything. The school he before enjoyed, his projects, his hobbies. He didn’t even go in his lab anymore. The only thing he could do was standing in front of the mirror, locked up in his bedroom, staring at the purple mark as if it was the physical sign of his damnation. He knew that Rachel hadn’t blamed him for not being able to save her, but _he_ did and there was nothing he could do about it. He hated himself for his failure as much as she had appreciated and loved him for trying and risking his own life for her.

“There are things that we simply can’t do, Abel. It’s not your fault, nobody is to blame for my death. It must mean that this was my fate. But I’m happy to know that you have fought against it for me. You are the best brother I could ever wish for,” she had told him one of her last days. Her voice was soft and sad, but her gray eyes sparkled with affection. “Stop crying over your failure. There are limits that we are not destined to cross, not even with our high technology or all your brilliance. We can’t escape the laws of nature. Never forget that. But don’t give up. Life has for sure some great project for you, big bro. You lose me today, but you’ll find other people who will take my place and be at your side. Go and live also for me!”

He had had to admit that she was right. That experience had taught him an important lesson, the one that no scientist should ever forget. Living beings were limited, they couldn’t overcome or change the course of the universe and its phenomena, first of all death. Yet accepting it was just so hard. He wanted to try to go on, to show that he was able to learn from his mistakes, but he couldn’t. He didn’t feel any push that was strong enough to make him start again. The world had lost his allure and he felt even less motivated to find a way to interact with it and with other people in particular. He had just stayed there in front of the mirror, letting himself being numbly carried by the passing time.

Then, one day, change had knocked on his door. He had received a letter from the director of the research station, who asked him to come for a meeting. He had firstly thought of refusing, but his still not dead curiosity had won over all his insecurity and he showed up himself at the place the day after, perplexity written all over his face.

Abel shook his head. He would have never forgotten that meeting. The man had told him that his failed experiment had fascinated him. He had seen its strong scientific bases and the great dose of geniality that was under it. He of course had underlined how much he disapproved the young man’s choice to test the virus on himself, which was against the ethic that all the scientist had to comply with, but he had also stated that, if he swore not to repeat such actions ever again, he could come and work at the station. There he would have found the right way to exploit his intelligence and a place where his skills could be truly acknowledged.

The young genius had kept quiet for some moment, staring at the contract in front of him. It was his bigger dream coming true, the moment of his life. Yet, it wasn’t the joy of being able to obtain the job he had dreamt of since he was a child that made him sign the papers, but the awareness that this way he would have spent his life surrounded by the things he could do and understand. No more tragic feelings that could push him to try the absurd, no more difficult relationships to face, no more losses. It would have been him and the science. And maybe with the time he would be able to forget the despair he had felt, to forget what the scar screamed to him from the mirror.

Many years had passed since that day and he was now more in peace with himself. He didn’t regret what he had attempted, and the sense of guilt was no longer a part of his life, even if the consequences of his actions were still tormenting him. He still remembered Rachel’s last words and treasured them, letting her voice calm him down every time he was upset about something. He had even started to feel again some interest for the world outside the station, but he had pushed it in a corner of his mind. All it mattered to him was the theory and his job. The rest was a foreign reality to him, and he wasn’t ready to face it alone as he was.

A knock on the door brought him back to the present. He put the papers down and went to open the laboratory door. “Yeah?” He asked at the young technician who was standing in front of him, recognising him after a moment. “Oh, Gary, it’s you! Mike has gone to have lunch. Are there any problem with the reactor?”

“Oh no, nothing like that, Abel. I was looking for you,” the man answered with a smile. “I have a piece of news that will surely catch your interest! Follow me, will ya?”

“What is it?” He asked, but Gary just turned around and started to walk along the corridor. He blinked for a moment, taken aback by that playful behaviour, and then ran after him. “Wait! Come on, Gary! What’s going on?”

“It’s a surprise, genius boy,” the other laughed, obviously amused by his confusion. “Once at the hospital I’ll tell you!”

Abel protested loudly for some minutes, trying to get some more information on the matter, but he was completely ignored, so he gave up and followed the technician down to the lowest levels. The hospital was connected to the research station by a fast underground shuttle that allowed the authorized staff to travel quickly between the two buildings. They took the first train and in five minutes there had reached their destination.

The puzzled look that had never left the young genius’s face turned into a lost one as Gary led him to one of the hospital room. Inside, seated on the white bed with a magazine in her lap, there was a young girl with long orange hair and deep blue eyes. He looked at his companion who grinned at him and put a folder in his hands before leaving him in the middle of the corridor without a word. He blinked again and stared at the document, shaking his head before turning the cover to look at the data. It was a case history, most likely the mysterious girl’s one. He scanned the information carefully, trying to get why he had been led there and he stopped astonished as soon as he found the answer to his question, eyes wide with excitement and surprise. She wasn’t a normal girl, she was an alien!

“Hey, are you going to stand there for all day?” A voice asked, making him jump.

The folder fell out of his hands and he turned his attention to the room, from where the girl was now looking at him, her head slightly tilted. “Oh y-yeah…I’m sorry?” He stuttered embarrassed, his cheeks getting slight red as he bent to pick up the papers. “I…I didn’t…I had no intention of disturbing you!”

She laughed softly at his discomfort and shook his head. “It’s not a problem, don’t worry. I was just wondering what you were doing there,” she said with a smile. “I’m sorry if I startled you. Are you a doctor?”

“N-No, I’m a scientist. I work at the near research station,” he answered feeling uneasy. He didn’t know what to do. The girl seemed to be fine with talking to him, but he still wasn’t sure if she was really interested in having a conversation or if she was just being polite. He wanted to ask her about her story and her native planet, but he didn’t want to be indiscreet. “I…One of my co-workers led me here because…Uh…”

“Because I’m the alien girl, right?” She finished for him, but she didn’t sound bother or annoyed. “Don’t be shy! Talking will be easier if you get into the room and take a sit.”

“Are you sure you are fine with it?”

“Of course I am! Why shouldn’t I? Besides, you are the first person who has stayed with me long enough to allow me to start a decent conversation. You could tell me something about this new planet. And I’ll answer your questions in exchange.”

Those words and the warm tone of the girl’s voice finally made the young man a bit more at easy. He crossed the threshold and grabbed a chair, going to sit next to the bed. “Of course! I’ll tell you whatever you want to know about this place,” he nodded with more confidence. “Oh, by the way, my name is Abel. Welcome to my planet!”

“Thanks, Abel. Nice to meet you!” She smiled cheerfully, shaking his hand. “I’m Molly!”

“It’s my pleasure, Molly.” He stared for some seconds in those blue eyes, sensing a warm feeling growing in his chest, an emotion that brought back the happy memories of his childhood. That alien girl was different from the others. He didn’t know why he was so sure of it, but he wasn’t mistaking this time. A genuine smile opened on his face, as he felt all his discomfort and embarrassment disappear. She was the friend he had been waiting since Rachel’s death. “So, what do you want to know?”

 

_Present time, Mobius…_

Eggman tapped his foot impatiently, staring at the younger man who seemed completely lost in his own thoughts instead of occupying himself with the data he had been given. Rouge had left for Angel Island as soon as they had headed towards the control room, leaving to Decoe and Bocoe the task of watching on the Room, and he had remained alone with that supposed to be genius. He raised an eyebrow, sceptical. The newbie had told him he was a good scientist on his planet, but he was finding hard to believe it seeing how much he spaced out.

“Hey, boy! Are you done or not?” He asked in a loud voice, making his new “assistant” jump. “I guess that was a negative answer. You don’t seem to be so eager to save your little friends as you were before!”

“I…I’m sorry, Dr Eggman! I got lost in my own thoughts!” Abel exclaimed feeling ashamed for having been caught so easily. He didn’t mean to get distracted, but the memories had caught him off guard. He frowned, biting his lower lip. Molly’s and Shadow’s images came up into his mind. The girl firstly and the hedgehog after had shown him that his sister was right and that life was still worth some risk and sacrifice. He had never told them the whole story about his own tragedy, not because he didn’t trust them or was afraid of rejection, but simply because he wanted to show them the person he had become and not the one he used to be. He was sure that they must have heard something from the other people at the station, but none of them had ever brought up the subject. It was like they had a sort of silent agreement, which said that he was the one that had to start the discussion about the matter.

He shook his head, hearing Eggman coughing lightly to catch his attention again. That wasn’t the moment for thinking about that. The madman was right, if he kept on distracting he wouldn’t be useful at all. He had to stay focused, his companions needed him. “Sorry. It won’t happen again,” he assured with a bit more strength. “Anyway, actually I’m done with these data. I’ve written down some schemes.” He waved the papers he was holding. “There’s no way to disconnect them from the Room without trapping their mind in the alternative reality. If we cut out the connection, the portal will close. But I think we can find a way to communicate with them exploiting the same mechanism. And maybe we’ll also be able to invert the process!”

“Let me see.” The older man grabbed the sheets and studied them with great attention for some moments. “Uhm…You are right, boy. Well done! Maybe you are not as dumb as you seem.”

“Uh, thanks, Doctor?” The young scientist said, not knowing if he had been complimented or not. “We should work in that direction. What about you? Have you found out something?”

Eggman crossed his arms, a serious expression on his face. “Yeah, and it’s nothing good. My worries were grounded. The machine is using his hosts’ energy to function. Or, I should say, the energy of _one_ of his hosts,” he announced. “I built it so, of course, it’s an intelligent machine. If it had taken its powers from all the people it has trapped, it could have had some problems using it, since everyone has a different kind of vital energy. So it has chosen the one who has more power as its generator.”

“Wait, are you saying that the thing is using only Shadow?!” Abel groan, passing a hand on his face. “That’s bad, that’s _really_ bad! We must disconnect them as soon as possible!”

“Calm down, newbie! I don’t understand why you are getting all worked up. It’s not bad news. That hedgehog has a lot of power, I thought you knew that,” the madman said a bit surprised by his reaction. Why was that brat losing his temper now? He was far too emotional for his tastes. “There’s no need to worry, we have a lot of time. His energy supply is greater than you could imagine. Even if he runs out of power he can still survive. He’ll just sleep for some time and then he’ll be alright.”

Abel blinked, confused. How could the other be so calm? He should have been as alarmed as he was. Couldn’t he see what was coming if the machine drained Shadow’s energy? A thought hit him. The older man didn’t know about the problem. “Ah! I see,” he exclaimed shaking his head. “Yeah, it’s kinds obvious since Shadow as always been fine or unconscious when you were with him. You have never seen that phase.”

It was the madman’s turn to show perplexity. “What are you talking about? What phase?”

The younger prepared himself to answer, but before he could say a word the door opened and a pink fury crossed the doorstep heading straight towards the mad scientist, hammer in her hands, screaming: “This time I’ll hit you so hard that you will think it better before hurting my Sonic again, Eggman!”

“Amy! Stop!” Knuckles exclaimed, jumping in the room in turn catching her by the waist before she could reach her target. He turned towards Rouge that had followed them showing no worry in front of the younger female’s rage. “You thief! Help me instead of staying there laughing at me!”

“Oh it’s your fault, my dear. You were the one who insisted on explaining her what the matter,” the bat answered crossing her arms. “Now _you_ deal with it.”

“Ah, I hate you!” The echidna growled annoyed, dodging the hammer. “If I hadn’t explained she would have never let us go!”

“Let me go, Knuckles!” Amy yelled, hitting him on the head with her elbow. “I have to punish that lowlife for hurting my boyfriend!”

“Hey, I didn’t do anything this time!” Eggman shouted, leaning out from behind his metal chair that he was using as a refuge from the pink hedgehog’s fury. “It was an accident! I didn’t mean to trap them with that machine. Not yet at least!”

“I don’t believe you!” The young girl snarled, flinging even more to break free from her red friend’s strong grip. “Let me GO!”

“Amy, calm down, you damned pink nuisance!” Knuckles ordered exasperated, as he got another hit on the head. “Rouge! Do _something_!”

“What am I supposed to do?! She is out of control!” Rouge asked, irritated in turn. “I don’t want to be hit by that hammer! Knock her out!”

“But I can’t! It’s Amy! And when she woke up it would be even worse!”

“Let me go! Eggman, you are going to pay! How did you dare to put once again my Sonic’s life in danger?! You cheated! He had come to visit you!”

“Are you listening to me, brat?! It was not my fault! It was that girl who pushed me!”

“Amy, stop it! The doctor is right! It’s incredible, but it’s not his fault!”

“Yeah, the echidna is right! Come on, he is your friends, why should he lie to you?! I’m innocent for once!”

“Knuckles always falls for your little games! I won’t instead! There’s no way I’ll disappoint my boyfriend! So you’d better free him immediately!”

“Amy, he can’t do that! Rouge explained you! Why don’t you ever listen to what you are told?! Try to use your brain for once! And you damned bat, are you helping me or not?!”

“No way, honey! She is your problem!”

“Enough, everybody! Shut. The. Hell. Up!” Abel shouted with all his voice, overcoming the noise and the yells that were filling the room. “Stop it immediately! We don’t have time and energy to waste like this! Our companions are in danger and they need us!” The silence fell all around him at his outburst and he took a deep breath, before going on with a quieter tone, looking at the pink girl. “You are Amy, aren’t you? This is not Dr Eggman’s fault. It was an accident. A friend of mine accidentally pushed the Doctor against the controls and the machine activated. I understand your worries for Sonic, I’m worried too about my friends, but fighting with one another won’t help them. We need to work together to bring them home.”

Amy locked her green eyes on him, suspiciously. “Who are you?” She asked, showing hostility.

“He is Shadow’s human friend! I told you about him!” Rouge interjected. He couldn’t leave the explanation to the scientist or he would have told them the story once again. “So, what have you big brain find out while I was out?”

“We do have some news,” Eggman announced, getting out from behind his shield. “We have found some data that could help us to open a gate to communicate with Sonic and Co. And maybe, exploiting the same process, we’ll be able to invert the process and bring them back. It’s a matter of electric and nervous impulses, I’m not going to waste my breath trying to explain it to your simple minds. You wouldn’t understand.”

“For once you’ve done something useful, Eggman. And for the technical details, keep it for yourself. We don’t need them for sure! But I’d like to remind you that these “simple minds” always kick your butt in the end,” Knuckles commented sarcastically. He had let Amy go, but he was still standing next to her, just to make sure that she didn’t try anything else. “Anyway. It’s not all, is it? Come on, spit the bad news out.”

“Well, it seemed that the Room is using Shadow as a battery,” he answered calmly. “It’s not the best news, but I don’t see the big problem actually, our hedgehog has a lot of energy and this gives us time, but the boy here instead had freaked out as I told him the news. So I guess he knows something I ignore, don’t you, Abel?”

The young man kept quiet for a moment, thinking hard. He had to tell them, even if he knew that the dark creature wouldn’t have been happy about it. After all Shadow himself still didn’t know anything about the whole issues. He mentally slapped himself for not having listen to Molly when she had, more than once, told him that they had to talk with their dark companion about it. Maybe it wouldn’t have made the difference in their current situation, but he felt guilty both because he had kept from the hedgehog such an important matter about him and because he could have put in danger unaware people. Considering that, it was a good thing that Molly had been taken by the Room as well. She knew and she could recognise the signals as soon as they started to appear. And she could tell Shadow about it. He didn’t know how it would help, but knowing the dark creature he would for sure find a way to manage the situation without hurting the people around him. He only hoped that he didn’t decide for something too extreme.

“So, science boy?” Rouge asked, interrupting his thoughts. “Are you still here with us? What’s the matter with Shadow?”

“Ah, sorry. I was looking for the best way to explain the matter to you…” He lied, not looking at her. He really had no other choice but tell them the truth. He took a deep breath. The better thing was starting from the beginning. “It happened ten months after Shadow’s awakening. I was doing some experiments to analyse the structure and the chemistry of his body and specifically I wanted to test the entity of his energy. So I asked him to try to get as near as he could to his limit without hurting himself and he complied quite easily. I was so amazed by the quantity of power he was showing to possess that I didn’t notice that something was wrong. When I realized, the things were already out of control…”


	12. Bonds

**Chapter 12 – _Bonds_**

Molly stretched her arms, enjoying the soft feeling of the bed under her back. It was much warmer and more comfortable than the one where she had lain down while in the cell. She liked the small cabin that was going to be her room, it gave her a nice feeling of home. She glanced at Maria, who was seated at the foot of the bed, busy brushing her hair. She seemed quite peaceful, but there was a melancholic light that never left her eyes.

The blonde noticed her gaze and smiled at her. “Why don’t you try to get some sleep?” She asked softly. “I’ll wake you up if Tails or the other two come back.”

“I’m not sleepy. I’m tired but not enough to fall asleep,” she replied looking at the ceiling. Actually she would have more than appreciated being able to succumb to the dark world of slumber, but she had too many thoughts going around her head that prevented her from giving up to her tiredness. She frowned. It wasn’t just their incredible situation, after all they were fine and for the moment there was nothing they could do, so getting worked up was useless. She was more concerned for Abel. He was alone on a planet where he knew nobody and he was surely worried sick. She also knew that he would try anything to save them and that was worrisome. She sighed, trying to chase away the memory of the rumours she had heard from her colleagues at the station about her friend’s past. The only thing that gave her some relief was knowing that Rouge was with him. The bat would surely take a good care of him and would prevent him from doing something stupid. “I’ll sleep tonight…”

“Something is worrying you, isn’t it? About the world you come from perhaps?” the younger girl asked. “I can see it in your eyes. If you want to talk about it I would be glad to listen to you. Maybe we can find a way together to make you feel better!”

Molly was taken aback by the statement. Nothing could escape those deep blue eyes. “Yeah, you got me. The fact is that Shadow and I have another friend back in our time. He’s a nice guy and all, but he has the bad habit to do… _dangerous_ things if someone he cares about is involved,” she explained quietly, putting herself in a seated position. “He has already risked his life in the past by doing a stupid experiment to save his sister’s life and I’m afraid that he could do something similar to try to get us back. He has changed from the person he was back then, he is a lot more mature and responsible, but you never know. I only hope he’s fine! Luckily there are some reliable people watching over him…”

“You must care a lot about him! And I’m sorry for this situation. It must be really difficult for all of you. But try not to worry so much. I’m sure he won’t do anything stupid,” Maria tried to reassure her, putting a hand on hers. “If he has learnt the lesson he won’t do the same mistake again. Some events change not only our way of thinking but also our way of being. They creep in, deep inside our soul, and leave marks that we won’t ever be able to ignore. He will be OK, I’m sure.”

“I hope you are right…” The orange-haired girl sighed. Then she smiled. “Thanks a lot, Maria. You are really too nice. I’m glad I’ve got the chance to meet you.”

The blond grinned in turn. “I’m happy too. We’ll surely become good friends. Even if you won’t stay here for long. I’ve always wanted to have a female friend. You know, Shadow is always here for me and he cares a lot about me, but he is a guy. There some things that only we girls can truly understand!”

Molly laughed shaking her head as she imagined Shadow’s puzzled look as he was asked about which dress was better. “Yeah, it’s true! Besides, he is even more difficult than other guys are…” She commented. “But don’t worry, I’ll do my best to be helpful where he can’t be.”

Maria nodded enthusiastically. There were so many things she wanted to do with the other girl. It felt strange to have someone so close to her age around, someone, apart from the black hedgehog, who had time to spend with her. Besides, she was sure that Molly had many stories to tell her. The other had lived in the outside world, she had seen a different universe and a different time. And she couldn’t wait to hear what she had to say.

She thought about asking the planet where she, Shadow and Abel lived, but she was prevented by the sound of the door opening. The two turned to see the hedgehogs crossing the doorstep. The blue one had a wide grin on his face and still had an arm around the black one’s shoulder, while the latter wore his usual frown and kept shooting disapproving looks at his counterpart.

“Shadow! Sonic!” Both girls exclaimed, relieved to see that they had come back, and especially that both were alright. Which meant that no serious fight had taken place.

“I told you I would have brought him back. I always keep my word,” Sonic boasted jokingly. “I can’t deny that I’ve risked to be strangled, but those are details!”

Shadow shot him another murdering glare and pushed his arm off. “I’d have come back by my own even if this idiot hadn’t come looking for me,” he stated coldly. “But he wouldn’t have stopped annoying me until I hadn’t agreed to go along with him. I need to tell the fox boy to teach this blue nuisance what “I need some time alone” means.”

“Oh come on, Shadow! Don’t be so nasty!” Maria scolded him softly, getting up to take her best friend’s hands. “It can’t have been so bad.”

“It was instead,” he talked back, gripping slightly at her finger, trying to ignore the feeling of the other two presents’ gaze on him. They weren’t used to see him so affectionate and he would have never wanted them to see that part of him, but he couldn’t help it around the blonde girl. “You can’t imagine. The Faker and I are rivals, and I can’t stand him.”

“Don’t try to fool me, Shadow the Hedgehog. It’s useless, I know you too well,” she warned, pulling his arms with a chuckle. “Deep down you like him, even if you are too proud to admit it. You let only the people you appreciate the most touch you without a very good reason as Sonic was doing.”

The Ultimate Life Form stiffened at that statement, but he managed to keep a neutral expression, feeling his irritation grew even more as he heard his counterpart’s laughter from behind him. “Don’t be silly, Maria! That’s not true,” he protested, but deep inside he was struggling with a strange sense of uneasiness he hadn’t felt for a long time. He freed his hands from the girl’s grip and brought one of them to him temple. ‘What is this feeling? Why am I not just shaking the matter off as I always do?’ He thought, confused. He was too aware of his own weird behaviour, and the worst thing was that he couldn’t find an explanation. He was fighting to act as he usually did, at the same time it was as if the old himself, the one who had lived with the blonde, was trying to come back. Could it perhaps be something due to the time paradox? Or was it his late friend who had that strange effect on him?

Molly looked at the dark creature, blinking a few time, dazed, while at her side the blue blur was trying his best to contain his laughter. Was Shadow embarrassed? Could it be possible? She had never seen him acting that way, and it was almost more shocking than seeing him being all touchy-feely with the blonde. The latter thing wasn’t such a big surprise, after all she had expected him to be different towards her, even if she had never imagined he could be so affectionate. Instead seeing him getting so uncomfortable because of a simple comment, especially about Sonic, was something totally unexpected. Was she missing something maybe?

Maria smiled sweetly and ruffled his quills. “You don’t have to be so distant, Shadow. We both wanted to have friends, can you remember?” She said softly. “There’s nothing wrong with it. I told you so many times. You don’t have to be alone…”

“It more complicate than what you think,” Shadow mumbled with a slightly bitter tone. He didn’t get why she went on telling him those things when she was as aware as he was of the reality of his situation. He bit back a sigh and crossed his arms, his attitude going back to his usual distant one. “Besides, as I told you, I _do_ have two friends, so I’m not completely alone, don’t you think?”

“I don’t agree with you. Look at how you act towards them,” she insisted firmly. “But I guess we’ll talk about this once we are alone. You are still the same overly private person, aren’t you?” She brought her hands behind her back and gave him a playful glance. “Anyway, going back to the previous matter, what’s so wrong with you liking Sonic? Is there something you are not telling us, Shadow? Maybe you like him little a bit too much?”

At that question Molly almost chocked on air and the blue blur immediately stopped laughing, both astonished by the joke. They had to have got it wrong. How could Maria, the innocent and pure girl whom their black companion adored, have made that kind of allusion even if just for joking? That was totally unexpected. Maybe they had been too much influenced by the way in which Shadow talked about the blonde and they had forgotten that, after all, she was a young lively human girl, not some kind of mythical angel.

The dark hedgehog on the other hand had put on a perplex expression, clearly showing his inability to interpret what his best friend had just said. “Too much?” He repeated confused. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“Oh come on, Shadow! You always spoil my fun,” Maria sighed shaking her head, while the other two looked at each other, even more incredulous at the dark creature’s words. “How can you not understand such a simple joke? You haven’t improved at all.”

“I’m not one for jokes, you should know it,” he answered, a light trace of resentment in his voice. “Do you mind explaining it to me or what?”

“I think it will be more instructive for you if I don’t and I let you figure it out instead,” she answered, playfully poking his face. “I want to see if you can do it.”

The black hedgehog rolled his eyes but didn’t protest further. He didn’t want to give his best friend the chance to make even more fun of him. It wasn’t so difficult to see that she was trying to make him behave less coldly with his companions. She wanted him to feel comfortable and to open up with them too, but he had no intention to comply. And he wouldn’t have explained his reasons again. They had never reached an agreement on the matter, and they would never do it, especially not after he had experienced what losing someone so dear to him meant. He wasn’t sure that he would be able to survive the feeling of loss for the second time. He shot a brief look to Molly, who had turned to her attention back to the blonde again. He had allowed her and Abel to get closer to him, and he had already done much more than he should have. But he also had the intention of leaving them one day, before the unavoidable happened. He wasn’t going to wait for them to die, even if for natural causes. It was better for him not to witness their final moments. He wanted to remember them as they were when they had met the first time.

“I can explain the joke to you later, if you want,” Sonic told him in a low voice, exploiting the girls’ distraction. “Even if I’m sure you’ll refuse.”

“I have already forgotten about that,” he answered, glaring at the other. “I was thinking about something else. I’m not like you, Faker. I don’t waste my time on such useless things.”

“Well, you should. Maria is right, you should try to develop at least a little bit of sense of humour,” his counterpart talked back crossing his arms. “It could turn out to be useful to you as well!”

“I don’t think so.” The Ultimate Life Form watched his speaker carefully, wearing his usual frown, but the look in those green eyes was unreadable. He had noticed that his rival was standing once again a bit too closer to him than he usually did and kept his hands behind his back, but he had the feeling that they could have easily been on his shoulders instead. Something odd was going on, he was sure of it, and it left him perplex and somehow curious, tough he kept acting like he didn’t care.

Sonic titled his head slightly, forcing himself to hold the other’s gaze. Shadow was studying him, even if he couldn’t grasp the reason. The things between them had taken a strange turn since after their talk in his bedroom, and he was getting to know parts of the black one’s personality he had never imagined. He himself, in the same way, had let his rival see sides of himself that he rarely showed, even to Tails. And it was all happening so _naturally_. At the same time it pleased and confused him, because he could see that they were finally developing a new kind of relationship, but something told him that it wasn’t just a friendship, at least not of the kind he was used to.

He forced a cocky smile, chasing the thought away. He would wait and see. After all he had the feeling that it wasn’t a bad thing, whatever it was. He had no reason to worry about it. “Wanna bet?” He teased. “I will do my best to prove you wrong.”

“I’m not going to give you the opportunity to annoy me even more than you usually do,” Shadow replied harshly. “So go and play your silly games with someone else. Besides, I’ve…”

He couldn’t finish the sentence because a knock was heard and a moment after the door opened, revealing two scientists, each carrying a small folder. Maria immediately stopped her cheerful chat with Molly and stared at them almost with hostility, while the dark creature simply moved his gaze from his counterpart on them. The two men shared a quick glance and then the older one locked his eyes on the black hedgehog.

“Shadow, if you are not busy we need you to come with us,” he said gesturing the corridor. “It’s time for your weekly check up.”

Shadow tensed at those words while unpleasant memories filled his mind, but his expression remained blank. Those tests were one of the few things he didn’t miss about his life on the ARK. The thought of letting those humans put their hands on him again was repellent, but he knew he couldn’t say no. “I’m coming right now,” he simply stated, lifting a hand to prevent his best friend for protesting. “It’s OK, Maria. I’m still used to this.” He quickly shot her a reassuring glance and followed the two humans out of the room.

“Shadow…” The girl whispered sadly, watching the door closing once again.

“Maria, what’s wrong?” Molly asked, putting a hand on her shoulder, a worried expression on her face. She hadn’t missed her black companion’s nervous reaction and she couldn’t help getting concerned about his health. Once he had mentioned that they used to do something strange to him during his routine exams and that was why he didn’t like doing them. She had a bad feeling and she hadn’t like the way the two men had looked at each other before calling her friend out. “What are they truly doing to him?”

“I’m not sure…I wish I know! Shadow always refuses to tell me, but I know it’s something bad,” the blonde answered shaking her head. It was clear that the situation was painful for her. She couldn’t stand to know that his best friend was used for some kind of illegal experiments and that she couldn’t to help him in any way. “He is so _stubborn_! I could stop it, whatever it is, if he only told me what’s going on, but there’s no way to make him talk. He says that he does it for me so he doesn’t care about what they do to him!”

The orange-haired girl sighed. “I can understand how you feel. He is like that also with me and Abel. Every time he has a problem he shuts us out and deals with it alone. He says he doesn’t want to make us worried…But he gets the opposite results. I wish I could see what goes on in that head of his!” She agreed with a hue of exasperation in her voice. “It must be awfully hard for you.”

“It is. If only he talked to me or to my grandfather we could solve the matter! I tried to make him change his mind, but I failed every time. And he made me promised that I wouldn’t have said anything…”

The older human smiled sadly at the younger’s dejected expression and hugged her, trying to give her some comfort. “I know, Maria. But we also mustn’t forget that Shadow can take care of himself and I’m sure that he knows what he is doing…”

Maria nodded, hugging her back, grateful for the words that had been offered to her. “I hope you are right, Molly. And thank you for everything…”

“You are welcome. We are in the same boat after all!”

The blue hedgehog silently watched their exchange, feeling upset in turn seeing their worry, but smiled anyway as he heard them chuckled. Those two would surely become very good friends, it was clear that they could easily understand each other well, without the need of explanation. After all they were similar under many aspects and they both knew how difficult life could be. Besides Shadow loved them both and it was the evidence that they weren’t normal girls.

He quietly stepped backward, deciding to leave them alone, and walked out of the still opened door. He wasn’t going to stay there and watch his friends get worried sick and to let those humans do whatever they wanted with his rival. He needed to do something about that, even if it meant messing up with the black hedgehog once again. He preferred without any doubt being his enemy but having him healthy than being in good terms with him but letting him go through whatever those scientists were planning to do to him. He clenched his fists. He didn’t care what Shadow thought, he considered him a friend and he would treat him as one.

He looked around, realising he had been walking without caring about where he was going. The corridor where he was looked exactly like the one where their cabins were located. He had got lost again. He sighed. Maybe going to get his rival wouldn’t have been as easy as he had thought.

 

Tails had watched his companions leaving the room together with the blonde girl and then had turned to look at the man who was still with him, expectantly. He knew that Shadow was right about the scientist, but there was a part of him that kept wishing he hadn’t been left alone with their host. He couldn’t help feeling uncomfortable, unable to chase away the memories of the first time they had seen Gerald Robotnik’s face through that video. Years had passed since then and he had gone through a lot, yet remembering the ARK accident still had some effect on him. The quicker they started to work the better was for him, because he could focus on his task and no longer on those irrational fears.

“Please, Tails, follow me,” the professor said, bringing him back to reality. He wasn’t seated at his desk anymore, but he was standing near the office door. “I think we’ll work better in my laboratory, I keep the best of the technology of the station there.”

“Oh! O-of course, professor!” He stuttered and quickly followed the man out of the room. “But I’m afraid I won’t be able to give you much information. Unfortunately I know almost nothing about the machine that sent us here.”

“Don’t worry, let’s start from what you know. Then we’ll try to find out something about the rest.” The man eyed him with an amused grin. “And relax, I’m not going to use you for some kind of strange experiment. It’s not like me, and, besides, you are one of Shadow’s comrades. He would get furious if something happened to one of you.”

“Sonic and I aren’t exactly his comrades, only Molly is. We have fought together a couple of time, but we have mostly been enemies. He pursues always and only his own goals, and my friends and I have been quite often in his way. He chased after my life one time, and I didn’t have a good time. But he has been quite a fair opponent, I have to admit it,” the fox explained with a nervous chuckled. “I’ve never thought you could do something like that! I’m just…a bit shy!”

“I see. I’m sorry for the troubles my creature has caused to you and you companions. At times he is too extreme in his decisions,” the man apologised, his tone sincerely dismayed. “But I have the feeling that he cares about you all. I know Shadow very well, he is a creation of mine after all, and I can see some kind of protectiveness towards you behind his cold ways.” Then a pensive expression appeared on his face. “I still get the impression that you are for some reason afraid of me. But maybe I’m wrong. I’ll do my best to help you feel comfortable. It’s hard to work on a complex matter like ours if you are not at your ease. So why don’t you start from telling me what you know about this time machine?”

“What Shadow did us is history, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since that day.” Tails shook his head, ignoring the images of Cosmo that had come into his mind. He had no time for that right now. He tried instead to recall as many details he could about Eggman’s invention. “Anyway, the thing is, for what I know, a room with a pillar in the centre. I hadn’t the time to watch it carefully because some kind of metallic arms immobilised me and sedated me almost as soon as I got into the room. There was an engine sound coming from the pillar, so I guess that the computer that controls the whole machine is inside it. I can’t remember anything else.” He let out a sigh. “Our enemy’s assistants informed us that it isn’t finished yet and that it doesn’t function as it is supposed to do. Knowing Eggman that thing must have the goal to get Sonic stuck somewhere in the timeline so that he can’t fight that madman. He wasn’t planning to use it on us yet, it has been an accident. But for what I can see it worked. We are actually stuck in the past!”

“I see. You really know almost nothing about the machine. This isn’t good at all,” Gerald mumbled, thinking hard as they turned a corner. Helping his little hosts was going to be more difficult than he had thought. But he was the only one who could find a way out of that difficult situation, so it was worth a try. “Is there anything else you can tell me? Even something that you consider stupid or unimportant. It could turn out to be essential.”

The young genius crossed his arms, quickly scanning his memories to see if he had omitted anything, but didn’t find any other information. “No, that’s all. The only thing I can tell you is that the machine has been named “Time-Out Room”, but I don’t see how this could be useful.”

“Time-Out Room…Uhm…” The scientist repeated quietly as he led them towards the last door of the corridor. He quickly keyed a long and complex password and waited for the computer to recognise his fingerprints. Then he moved to let the fox enter fist and followed him, locking the door behind them and turning his attention again on his speaker. “What a strange name for a time machine, don’t you think?”

But Tails was no longer listening to him. He had taken some steps towards the centre of the room, completely fascinated by the complex machines and the computers that surrounded him, covering the walls and filling up most of the floor. He moved his gaze among the metal and glass surfaces, studying every keyboard and button, trying to read the graphics and the streams of data on the many screens. That was exactly his mental picture of a genius’s laboratory: a tidy mess of strange devices and complicated projects, air vibrating because of the power generators noises, smell of electricity and dim light.

His attention was caught in particular by an empty glass capsule located in a corner of the room. He walked towards it, being careful not to bump into anything by accident, and stopped right in front of it. The transparency of its surface was slightly blurred, sign that it had been used, and the metal parts where covered with dust. There was something that enchanted him in that simple cylindrical form, something that was somehow vaguely familiar. He put a gloved hand on the glass, and let it go down on it until it reached something protruding from the smooth surface right upon the point where glass met metal. He lowered his gaze and saw a silver plate. His eyes grew wide in surprised. “ _Project Shadow_ ”, it said.

“You got it right, Tails. This is Shadow’s incubator. Every time I look at it I feel like I’m living the period of his creation again,” Robotnik said as he came to stand next to him. His glare was glued on the capsule and in his voice there was a spark of melancholy longing. “He is my best result, my pride, and he’ll always be. I succeeded in doing something that was considered impossible. I created _life_. And I even did something more. I gave birth to a powerful and almost immortal being. The Ultimate Life Form.”

The fox boy looked away from the capsule to meet the man’s eyes, finding them shining with satisfaction behind the round glasses. He could imagine what the professor was feeling and he himself couldn’t help being amazed in front of the result of the other’s many efforts, sacrifices and suffering. The dark creature was with no doubt one of the most extraordinary living being he had ever met and, if he hadn’t had the evidences, he would have never believed that he had been created by a human. Yet, he also had the feeling that there was something obscure and dangerous about the whole issue, something of which even the scientist wasn’t aware of.

He shook his head again, pushing the thought away. It was ridiculous. “It’s truly incredible what you have been able to do,” he commented, his eyes going back to the glass. “I’d never be able to do something similar.”

Gerald nodded, taking some steps back and turning his back to him. “Well, let’s say I didn’t play completely by the rules,” he said cryptically. His tone had darkened and there was a hue of worry in it, but when he spoke again his voice was back to normal. “Anyway, let’s go back to our current problem. I may have a theory.”

The young genius chose to ignore the strange sentence, even if it had disturbed him, and put on a perplex expression. “How can you have a theory if we know nothing about that machine?” He asked trying not to sound too sceptical. “Shouldn’t we do some tests before?”

“We could, but there’s a quicker way. Let’s use this,” the man answered tapping on his temple. “The name is the key to find a start point!”

“The name?” He repeated, now quite confused. Had the human gone crazy?

“Yes. _Time_ - _Out_ _Room_. It’s a simple but effective name for such a particular device. It caught my attention because it doesn’t sound like the name for a machine to travel time, but for one to stop it,” Robotnik explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the universe. “That Eggman was most likely trying to get Sonic stuck in some kind of limbo, not to send him in another timeline or time. But the machine didn’t work correctly and you all were sent here.”

Tails blinked, having to admit to himself that it had some logic. After all Eggman always chose the names of his inventions carefully, even if most of the times he really couldn’t see from where they came from. Gerald had easily read the meaning behind it instead. He and his grandson must have even more similar intelligences than he had thought. “It could make sense,” he carefully conceded. “But I still don’t see how this could help us.”

“That’s where I need your help. You surely know a lot about this Eggman, since he is something like an archenemy for you and your friends, for what I manage to understand. Since we don’t have any technical data to work on, we have to try a different method,” the professor explained, approaching one of the computers and turning it on. “We’ll try to enter in our opponent mind and try to understand what he wanted to do. Once we have done it, we’ll have to build a machine similar to his. I know that it sounds absurd, but it’s the only option we have.”

“I must tell you that I’m really sceptical, but I will trust you anyway, professor,” the fox nodded crossing his arms and following him. That plan seemed almost a waste of time in his eyes because he didn’t see how they could solve a scientific matter with _psychology_ , but on the other hand he knew that the man was a real genius. The ARK, Shadow and the Biolizard were only some proofs of his brilliance. So he had decided to give him a chance. After all he had to agree with the fact that they didn’t have any better idea at the moment. “What do you want me to do?”

“Tell me all you know about Eggman and what you got to understand about his way of reasoning. The key is right there,” the human said calmly, staring attentively at his speaker. “If we get to understand how he thinks, we could also deduce how he works on his machines.”

The young genius hesitated for a moment, trying to recall and process all the information he had. After so many years of clashes, he was sure that he had seen almost all his enemy’s faces, yet he still find hard to understand his way of thinking. The man always somehow succeeded in being unpredictable. He really didn’t know where to start from. “That’s a difficult question. There are so many things I could say…” he mumbled scratching his head. “Actually I have never thought of examining that madman’s brainstorming.”

“Tell whatever comes into your mind. We’ll work on it later,” the scientist encouraged him.

“Well, he is brilliant, I have to admit it, especially when it comes to robotics. His robots and devices are really powerful and amazing. But he is too much eccentric, childish under some aspects and he is hell-bent on conquering the world to build his “Eggman Empire”. He hates Sonic so much because he has always ruined his plans.” He couldn’t help rolling his eyes remembering how many times his enemy had declared yelling his intention to rule the universe. “But I’m persuaded that he is not completely evil, even if most times he is dishonest and tries in every way to deceive us. He even hurts us at times, and not in a light way. But he has never tried to kill us for real, even when he had the chance to. We have even worked as allies a few times, only to start fighting each other again as soon as the emergency had ended. He lives alone with his robots and almost never associated with anyone else. Shadow worked for him a couple of times, but only because Eggman had been the one to…find him. But I’m positive about the fact that the two respect but don’t like each other.”

Robotnik kept quiet for some moments. There was something familiar in the description that the fox had made him, but he couldn’t get what. “The picture is quite complex,” he commented in the end. “Is there something else really relevant about him that you haven’t mentioned?”

Tails hesitated, torn. Of course there was, but he didn’t want to tell the man who Eggman truly was. Yet if Gerald had known the things would have got much easier. His logic told him to spit the truth out, but his heart didn’t want to give such a bad news to his host. They were talking about his grandson after all. He closed his eyes. It was an emergency, and that was the only way to go back. He was worried about any side effects that the machine could have on them. Anything could happen. They needed to go back as soon as possible. He bit his lips, making up his mind. “There is something I still haven’t told you, professor. Something really relevant actually. But as soon as I tell you it, you’ll understand why I have kept quiet about it,” he said, trying to keep a neutral tone. “Eggman is not his real name, just one he has given to himself. Our enemy is called Ivo Robotnik.”


	13. Then and Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Warnings*: This chapter contains references to unorthodox medical research, violence, non-consensual drug (meds) use.
> 
> *Disclaimer*: I do not own Sonic X or the characters. All characters are properties of Sega and Sonic Team.

**Chapter 13 – _Then and Now_**

_Six months before, Mobius…_

The grass extended on the field like an emerald green sea over which the wind was blowing. Far away on the horizon, the shadows of the distant forest could be seen under the bright sunlight, as the shore of another continent at the end of the ocean. The sky was clear and his colour seemed even deeper than usual, as if it was trying to swallow up the observer in the depth of its space.

Sonic lay under a lonely tree in the middle of the field, eyes closed and the stem of a flower between his lips, limbs completely relaxed. It was a wonderful day and he had decided to spend most of it out on his own. He had run all morning and now he was waiting for lunchtime to arrive. He had promised Tails that they would have eaten together since they hadn’t seen each other too much recently. He had let his little brother know that he was there for him if he needed him, especially at the beginning, when the fox boy still suffered greatly for Cosmo’s death. He had come out completely broken from their last battle, the scene of his love dying still in his mind and eyes clouded with tears. Luckily he had been able to overcome the tragedy with the time, even if it hadn’t been easy. Now he was back being the cheerful genial boy he was, although there still were some traces of melancholy in his big blue eyes.

The hedgehog sighed, getting in a seated position and letting the flower fall from his mouth. Coming back to Mobius and going back to the old life had been a relief, but under some aspects it hadn’t been, and at times still wasn’t, easy. Travelling around the space had opened to them many new worlds, each one with its culture and story, and they had made new friends. They had fought a cruel enemy, who had more than once almost killed them and who had put them through the wringer. They had defeated him in the end, it was true, but the price had been too high and it had inevitably changed them all, to some extent. An innocent had sacrificed herself before their eyes for faults that weren’t hers and they had lost two companions.

‘Not two, just Cosmo,’ he mentally corrected himself. The Seedrian girl had turned into a beautiful blooming cherry tree and had died leaving behind a fall of seeds, but he didn’t believe that Shadow was gone as well. It was just a feeling, but he had learnt to trust his instinct a long time ago. Besides, somehow his counterpart always managed to survive, no matter how bad the things got for him. He was the Ultimate Life Form after all. And, to tell the whole truth, he didn’t want to believe that he was dead, not after having sacrificed himself once again for the universe and to allow _him_ to go back safe to his companions. “ _Sorry, my friend, but I’m taking over. After all, we wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself, now wouldn’t we?_ ”. He shook his head, chasing the memory of his rival’s last words away. They would see each other again. It was a matter of time, he only needed to be patient.

The hero got up, stirring. No more glooming thoughts, they were ruining the beautiful weather. Moreover it was time to head back home, he didn’t want to make Tails wait. He sped off, making the grass and the flowers bend as he passed them at supersonic speed, throwing himself in the forest and letting his mind focusing only on what he was feeling. That was one of the reasons why he loved running so much. It allowed him to get his head completely clear and to enjoy at full blast the physical sensation that the speed gave to him. It was fun, it was thrilling, and it was comforting somehow. It was his life, it was his way of being, and he didn’t care if he couldn’t share it with no one, even if he couldn’t deny that at times he wondered what it could feel running side by side with someone else, with no other purpose but to enjoy together the unique emotion that he felt every time he was racing.

He stopped right before the door of the house he shared with Tails and stretched an arm to open it, but he stopped as he heard some familiar voices coming from the living room. One was the fox’s, and he seemed to be discussing with Amy. And he would swear he had heard an unmistakable snort that sounded a lot like Knuckles’s. Curious, he took some step towards the opened window, careful not to be seen by the presents.

“Amy, calm down. There is really nothing to worry about,” the young genius was saying, a hint of exasperation in his voice. “Sonic is just being his usual self. He goes and then comes back, he has always been like that.”

“But it’s been a month, Tails. I haven’t seen him for a _month_! And you yourself haven’t had almost any news from him in the last two weeks!” The pink hedgehog complained in a high pitch. “How can I not be worried?! And I miss him so much!”

“He has been missing for more than one month in the past,” Tails tried again, forcing himself to stay calm and biting back a sigh. “Besides, I’ve already told you that he’ll be here for lunch, so you’ll see that he’s fine!”

“I know he has already done it more than once! And I was worried sick each time!” She protested even more loudly, starting to walk up and down around the room. “But what if Eggman has captured him? Or if he has met some other bad guy? We are not there to help him!”

“Will you stop whining in this useless and annoying way?!” Knuckles exploded leaving the wall where he had been standing. He had heard enough. “Amy, that idiot is fine. He can take care of himself better that we all will ever be able to do. Try to use your brain. If Eggman had caught him we would have known by now because that madman isn’t capable of keeping his mouth shut and he’d have been boasting around about it! And if he had met some other threat we would have known as well because there is no way that that blue hedgehog can do something without making a hell of a mess that let everybody in the universe know that he is fighting.”

Sonic made a face at the last comment, but kept quiet to hear the rest of the conversation. The echidna was never nice with him, not even when he wasn’t present. He mentally noted to give him a proper payback for talking behind his back later.

“Don’t insult my Sonic, you rude echidna!” Amy scolded, even more angered. “If you don’t want me to teach you a lesson, you’ve better not do it again!”

“Amy, Knuckles is right, even if he could have explained himself in a more kind way. Please, don’t mind his ways, you know how he is,” the younger stepped in a soothing voice, shooting a nasty look at his red friend. “If Sonic was hurt, we would know. So don’t worry for him. He is like the wind, he goes wherever he feels like going whenever he wants. He is a free spirit, and no one can change that. And we can’t force him to do it. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“But Tails! He has being acting strange since we have come back home. He is even less around than he usually is!” She insisted stubbornly. “Try to deny it!”

The room fell quiet for some moments, while both males considered the pink girl’s words. It was true, their companion had been spending more and more time alone in the past year, especially after Tails had recovered a bit from his mourning. And they couldn’t help comparing his behaviour to the one of another hedgehog they knew. Sonic had always enjoyed spending his time alone, but he could also be the most sociable person in the world if he was in the right mood, especially around his friend. Yet, in the last months, he had become more distant and he had been spending lesser and lesser time with them.

“Well, you aren’t so wrong about it,” Knuckles carefully conceded crossing his arms once again. “But everybody has the need to stay by his own from time to time, especially after something big has happened. It’s just a period. Everything will go back to normal.”

“Are you sure, Knuckles?” She asked in a lower voice, uncertainty and concern clear in her voice. Under her rage and annoyance, she was really worried about the blue hero and she was suffering from being put aside by his new colder ways. He used to avoid her most times, but there had always been a playful hint in the way he did it. Now that little detail that made her know that things were still right between them was missing and it made her feel awful.

“I’m more then positive about it. Just give him some more time,” the echidna answered with no hesitation. “Put your heart at peace and sit down. He’ll be here in soon.”

The pink hedgehog reluctantly did as she was said and let herself fall on the couch, a pout on her muzzle. She wanted to believe those words of comfort. The other two exchanged a brief relieved glance and then joined her. They had finally succeeded to calm her down. Now they only hoped that their friend would arrive soon, before she got all worked up again.

Sonic walked towards the door again, deciding to enter before his companions found themselves forced into another fight. He quickly crossed the threshold and announced his arrival loudly, letting Amy jumping on him screaming his name and giving him a choking embrace. When he managed to break free from her, he ruffled Tails’s fur and waved at Knuckles, trying at the same time to follow all the questions that his self-proclaimed girlfriend was asking him. However, during the whole process, his mind was somewhere else. The pink girl was right, he had felt the need to go away, to be more on his own since they had come back. And when his younger brother had been able to stay by his own again he had decided that nothing else was holding him and had just fled away. He couldn’t help it, it was some sort of instinct and he couldn’t fight it. So he ran. Who knew, maybe, ironically, he himself, the one who had never let anyone and anything bind him, was the one who had been scarred the most by their adventure in the space, even if he couldn’t say why. There was something that eluded his understanding and he couldn’t get it into focus. But he somehow knew that it was important for him.

 

_Present time, space colony ARK…_

Shadow only wanted to scream and dig his nails in his aching limbs, to tear all that pain away. But his body wasn’t responding properly and the straps that bound his wrists and ankles to the metallic surface seemed too strong even for him. Past and presents came together in his mind, and the blurred memories of the experiments he had had to undergo when he still lived at the ARK confused themselves with his current situation, which was even worse. They were injecting him something once again, he had already lost the count of the needles that had pierced his skin. He could almost feel his veins burning as if there was fire in them instead of blood running inside them and his temperature was higher than ever. His stomach was hurting like hell and the nausea was suffocating him, while his breath came out short and painful. His conscience kept fading away and he felt weaker and weaker as if they were drawing all his energy with those injections.

The light was hurting his clouded eyes and could hear the scientists’ voices, but in his stupor he was unable to understand what they were saying. He managed to get only some words that were insufficient to follow their discussion. “Hedgehog”, “experiment”, “alien”, “energy”, “final”. One of them named Gerald Robotnik, or so he thought he had. He let out a frustrated groan and pulled his restriction again with force, only succeeding in getting another wave of pain running through his body. Another syringe entered his flesh, this time right in his neck.

“Keep still, Shadow!” Someone told him, but he couldn’t see his face because his sight was blurred. “We are almost there.”

“There _where_? What the hell are you doing to me this time?” He wanted to scream, but his mouth was completely dry and he couldn’t make his voice come out. He was too tired.

Then he felt something, a sensation that was familiar to him. It was the same dark energy that had started growing inside him while he was racing Sonic on Mobius, but it was stronger and it was increasing faster, making it hard for him to contain it. Now he remembered where he had experienced that power before. He had felt it almost every time they had took him for his said routine exams and also when he had passed out after the two final battles. He struggled more, feeling his anxiety tuning into panic, and tried to win the numbness, seeing the black glow slowly enveloping his body. But, whatever it was, that power was much stronger than him and all his attempts not to give in to it seemed to be vain. One of the humans exclaimed something, clearly excited, and another one commented in a calmer but satisfied voice. He clenched his fists, fighting the pain and the black that were slowly taking over him. He couldn’t let go, it was dangerous, he was fully aware of that. Yet he couldn’t do it by his own, he needed something that could bring him back to reality, like Maria’s voice had done the last time.

The room around him became suddenly noisier, distracting him from his efforts. He could no longer feel the presence of the scientists around him.  He could vaguely hear them moving around the room. There was also a new voice in the room. It was calling his name. He blinked a few time in surprised. He knew that voice. What the hell was _he_ doing there?

 

Sonic let out a frustrated sigh as he checked another locked door. The place was even huger than he had thought the first time he had got lost while looking for Shadow, less than three hours before. Maybe he should have asked Maria where the laboratories where before throwing himself into that damned maze. The worst thing was that, while he was walking at random in the warren of corridors, his rival was suffering only-God-knew-what by those humans’ hands. The thought made him even tenser, but he tried to control his feelings. Getting all worked up wasn’t going to help him find that damned lab.

He turned a corner and a door a bit bigger than the others caught his attention. He could hear some voices coming from behind it and, even if he couldn’t get what they were saying, the triumphant note in their tone was well noticeable. He quickly reached it and pressed the opening button, silently cheering when that time it actually worked. Maybe he had finally made it to his so long searched destination.

However, his cheerfulness vanished immediately as he saw what was going on inside the room, replaced by an unpleasant feeling. The lab was huge and full with strange devices and computer screens, each carrying different data or images. The lights were almost dazzling and the sound of a pump could be heard, coming from a hidden corner of the room. But what caught his eyes was Shadow lying on a metal table, surrounded by a crowd of with coats. The black creature was all sweaty and his face was contracted in a grimace of pain. He was clearly trying to break free from his restrains but they were too tight for what was left of his strengths. Moreover, there was a dark glow around his body that he didn’t like at all and that seemed to emanate a strange energy.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing to him?!” He exclaimed shocked, making all the humans turned towards him, astonishment written on their faces. They clearly weren’t expecting to be interrupted. “Let him go! Shadow! _Shadow_!”

He saw his counterpart react at his voice, struggling a bit harder with the straps, but he was forced to look away as one of the scientists tried to catch him. The man was holding a syringe and that wasn’t promising at all. He took some steps back, ready to fight, as the others approached as well, trying to surround him.

“He must be one of the intruders. He looks a lot like Shadow. Catch him, we could gather some data using him as well!” One said, gaining a few nods from his colleagues. “Confronting them could turn out to be interesting.”

“No way! I’m not letting you using me as a lab rat! And you won’t be using Shadow anymore too!” Sonic protested loudly. “I’ll show you that catching me is not easy as you think!”

He dodged one of the men who had jumped on him in the attempt of immobilizing him, letting him crash against the wall, and immediately leapt backwards to avoid a syringe that was aiming for his chest. Those damned humans were stubborn. He looked quickly around, trying to find the best way to reach Shadow’s side. If the other couldn’t walk then getting out of the lab was going to be more difficult than he had thought. But he had to try anyway. After all his opponents were science men, they shouldn’t be very skilled in fighting. He spotted a small space between the closer humans and rushed through it, sending one of them on the floor. Unfortunately, another one had moved right in his way and he bumped hard into him, falling on the ground in turn. He immediately felt two pairs of hands on him.

“We got you, hedgehog!” A voice exclaimed with a brief chuckle. “What were you saying about our inability to catch you?”

The hero cursed under his breath. Years and years of fighting powerful robots and he wasn’t able to escape a group of mere humans? That was really embarrassing. “Well, you got me. Nice move,” he admitted with a confidence he didn’t have in that moment. His green eyes were fixed on the needle that his speaker was holding. “But this doesn’t mean that you can keep me!”

The men looked at each other, caught off guard by the sentence, and he exploited their distraction to break free from their grip with a strong pull. But his freedom didn’t last much because a moment after all the scientists, apart from the one who had spoken, who seemed to be the boss of the place, were on him again, pinning him to the floor. He struggled with all his strength but they were too many, even if it was clear that, in spite of the numerical superiority, they were having a hard time to keep him on the ground. He growled, looking at leader who was now victoriously smirking at him.

“What did you say, hedgehog?” The man asked mockingly.

“I said that it’s not over yet!” The blue blur replied in a defiant tone, but under his cocky facade he was starting to get worried about what those crazy humans wanted to do with him. “I’m not letting you using me for your filthy experiments!”

“Oh, and how are you going to prevent us from doing it?” The other asked back. “I really want to see it!”

“You won’t do anything because you are letting him go _now,_ ” a voice said in a calm but dark tone from behind them, catching all the presents’ attention.

They turned to see Shadow standing in front of the metal table, on which the straps lain torn. The black glow around him was gone and his crimson eyes were shining dangerously. After recognizing Sonic’s voice and realising what was happening, something had sprung inside him, as it had when he had heard Maria’s voice shouting him to stop during the race. It was as if he had suddenly come back to reality, regaining a more lucid consciousness of his situation. He had fought back the black energy once again, this time succeeding in chasing it away, and had used what remained of his strength to break free. He was now completely drained, even if he still managed to hide it, and he felt his legs almost giving out. Yet he had no other choice but ignoring the pain that was burning his body and the nausea that was making him awfully sick. It didn’t matter how bad he felt, he could stand it. He had to, because he couldn’t let those men touching the blue blur. He knew too well what he would suffer if they did and Sonic didn’t deserve it, no matter how annoying he could be at times.

“Do I have to repeat myself?” He questioned again, his red gaze moving among the humans, silently promising them horrible things if they didn’t do what he was asking. There was no hurry or anger in his voice but that made it for some reason even more frightening. “Let him go.”

The scientists slowly rose up and stepped away from the blue hedgehog, too scared to refuse that order. Even the leader kept quiet under those crimson globes, even if he was shaking in rage. He couldn’t believe that the hedgehog was still able to stand straight after all they had injected to him. The fact stirred his curiosity as a scientist, but on the other hand it annoyed him to no end. They were so close. If only the blue nuisance hadn’t come in they would have finally reached their goal. In spite of his irritation, he bit his tongue and didn’t dare to speak. He knew too well that Robotnik’s creation wouldn’t have hesitated to kill him if he had given him a pretext to do it. The creature was extremely dangerous.

Shadow walked towards Sonic and grabbed his wrist, forcing him to stand up and ignoring the glances of hatred that were shot to him. He was so used to them that they didn’t touch him anymore. Besides he was relieved by the fact that no one had tried to stop him, because he really wasn’t in the shape for a fight. Being feared had always been useful to him at the ARK.

“Wise choice. We are done for this time. And you’ll have to wait a long time before I allow you to put your filthy hands on me again,” he stated coldly, pulling his rival towards the door. “Come on, Faker. Use those legs of yours. Or do I have to carry you?”

The blue hero complied immediately, happy to leave those humans behind. His mind was still trying to grasp what had just happened, but the only thing he could think about was that he would have been damned if his counterpart hadn’t come to defend him. His pride protested at that, but he hushed him. His relief was much stronger at the moment. He didn’t want to imagine what they could have done to him. That was what they had actually done to Shadow. His eyes grew wider at the realisation and he quickly scanned the other slim body, looking for any kind of injuries. Luckily he didn’t find anything, but he also couldn’t help noticing how stiff the black creature’s movements where as he dragged them along the corridor. He wore an expression of deep concentration, probably to force himself to go on and to hide any sign of weakness, but it wasn’t hard to see that every step was a torture for him. Sonic rolled his eyes. Damned Shadow, always to proud to ask for a support. But this time he wasn’t going to just stand and watch, even if it meant to make the other furious.

Sonic stopped his track and freed his wrist from the iron grip that was still keeping him, causing the dark hedgehog to stop in turn. Without any sign of hesitation he pulled the latter towards him and put his rival’s arm around his shoulder, resting his own around the other’s back. “Before you start growling at me, listen to me for once,” he quickly said preventing Shadow from doing anything. He felt him stiffen, but not moving away. He took it as a good sign and went on. “I don’t know what they have done to you, and I don’t want to know if you don’t want to tell me. But you saved me from that horrible whatever, so let me help you for once. I won’t say anything about this if you won’t and we will be even. Deal?”

The Ultimate Life Form stared at him for some seconds, a blank expression on his face. A part of him wanted to chase that idiot away and tell him to leave him be, that he wasn’t one of his precious friends and that he didn’t need any kind of help. Yet he had felt his body give out, grateful for the unexpected support that had been offered to him. The black energy and the substances that the men had injected him had drained him to the point of almost fainting and the growing nausea didn’t make things better. He needed to sit down and wait for the effect of whatever was in his body to end. So he would have swallowed his pride and done what his rival had asked him. He couldn’t risk fainting in the corridor, Maria would have got to know and it would have made her worried sick again, which was the last thing he wanted. “At the end of the corridor we turn left,” he said in a low voice at the end, looking away.

Sonic nodded, not daring to speak as they started to walk again, Shadow leaning on him as less as his limbs allowed him, but he hid a smile. He knew well how much that decision must have cost to his counterpart and he appreciated it. The dark one had chosen to trust him, even if he would have never admitted it. It felt strange but in a good way. If they had told him the first time he had met the black creature that they would have ended up fighting side by side and then being almost friends he would have laughed. Instead now it was him himself the one who was trying to get close to the other hedgehog. Life could be really odd.

Shadow guided them through the maze of corridors until they reached a particular door, which to the blue blur seemed exactly like the others, and then removed his arm from the other’s shoulders. He pressed the opening button and stepped him without a word, heading straight towards a small closet. Sonic followed him, looking around. The place reminded him of a sickroom, even if there were some weird screens showing only-God-knew-what. But they seemed to be everywhere in the space colony so he ignored them. The room was quite small and it was filled with metal cabinets, two folding beds and some shelves. In a corner there was a large sink. Finally a place that looked almost normal, apart from the ever-present computers.

Shadow shot him a brief glance, shaking his head, then grabbed a metal bowl from the cabinet and closed it. He could feel his stomach twist harder and harder, making him awfully sick. He would throw up soon, he was sure of it. He leaned against the wall, taking some deep breaths and trying to ignore the fact that his rival was now staring at him. He hated showing weakness, but he felt too tired and too bad to start a heated fight in that moment. The idiot was going to stamp his feet and insist on wanting to stay by his side to help him in the name of a stupid companionship they hadn’t, and he had no strength left for facing his whining.

Another strong spasm in his abdomen brought him back to the present, interrupting his thoughts. He clanged at the bowl and, before he knew it, the content of his stomach was coming out from his mouth. He coughed a few time, spitting out as another wave of nausea hit him, forcing him to bend his head on the bowl again. He hated it, the feeling of his body curling up under the pressure of spasms, of the pain plunging into his limbs like a sharp knife, of his breath becoming short and uneven. He tried to calm down, breathing as slowly as his conditions allowed him, and looked down at the contents of the bowl, raising an eyebrow perplexed at the sight, in spite of his still aching body.

“What the hell is that?!” Sonic exclaimed, speaking the thoughts of both of them. As soon as he had seen that Shadow was sick he had quickly moved by his side, not too close to make him uncomfortable, but at arm’s reach. “That thing is _violet_!”

The black hedgehog stared at the purple liquid for a moment. “I absolutely don’t want to know,” he stated in the end, putting the bowl on the sink and letting himself slide down, with his back against the wall. His muscles were finally starting to relax and he felt a little better. At least there was no longer the risk he would faint. He felt the blue blur sitting down next to him and glared at him. “What do you think you are doing, Faker?”

“I’m just sitting down, don’t get all worked up!” The other answered, a hint of amusement in his voice. “I’m not even touching you!”

“You are too close anyway,” he stated coldly, but did nothing to push him away. “I hope you’ll keep your word. You won’t tell anything about what has happened. If I find out that you have talked I’ll kill you.”

“My lips are sealed, don’t worry. I know you and I value my life enough to see that breaking the promise would be the wrong choice,” the hero reassured him, keeping his eyes on the opposite wall. “Besides it’s your business. It’s you who decides what to do about it. Just…I don’t get why you don’t want Maria to know what’s going on. She is really worried about you.”

“I know she is. I I’ve always kept quiet about this while ordeal because I don’t want to cause her or the professor more troubles,” the dark creature said. “You know nothing about how things go here at the ARK. I’m not going to explain, so don’t waste your breath asking.”

“I had no intention to. I’ve learnt not to ask stupid questions. As I said, it’s not my business, unless you decide to talk me about it. But it’s not going to happen.” Sonic crossed his arms and legs, finally looking at his rival. “Anyway, how are you feeling?”

“Haven’t you just said that you’ve learnt not to ask stupid questions?” Shadow asked back, a small smirk appearing on his face. “I’m the Ultimate Life Form, and I just threw up. You have seen me in worst conditions.”

“Your vomit was _purple_ , Shads. It’s not exactly normal, you know? I find it quite worrisome,” the blue blur talked back, but his tone was playful. “Thanks for answering anyway. Whatever they have injected you is making you a bit nicer. Maybe I should ask those humans to give me some of it.”

“Go ahead, if you want them to use you as a lab rat as well. But, trust me, you don’t want to.”

“Yeah, I didn’t consider that. Well, I guess I’ll keep the old grumpy Shadow then.”

The silence fell on the room, but for once there was no tension between them. Shadow was lost in his own thoughts, trying to remember something that could tell him what the scientists were doing to him. He was sure that it had something to do with the black power, but he had no evidences. Keeping control had been harder this time, and he felt more tired, even if he had told he was fine. His body was recovering slower than it usually did, as if it had less energy, and it was quite alarming. Maybe he should go and tell the professor about it. He usually was able to get whatever was wrong with him. Yet something was preventing him. More than fifty years had passed, and he knew that he had somehow evolved during that lapse of time. That power itself wasn’t as strong as it was now when he still lived at the ARK. He didn’t want to put them all in danger. Not again. He bit his lower lip as his most unpleasant memories entered with force in his mind. He was the cause of Maria’s death and of professor Robotnik’s consequent folly. He had been created to give life but instead he had brought only destruction. What was he doing back there again? Why had he agreed to stay with Molly and Abel? He should have left, he should have locked himself in a place where nobody could find him, where he would be harmless.

Sonic noticed almost immediately his rival’s sudden mood swing. He was wondering how Tails was doing alone with Eggman’s grandfather when he had seen Shadow bringing his hands to his face out of the corner of his eye. He quickly turned towards the other, afraid that he was going to be sick again, and find him shaking with his eyes close, a deeper frown on his face. He could read sorrow in his expression, but something told him that it wasn’t physical. He felt bad at the sight. Most likely the black creature was still tormenting himself with the painful memories of his past, maybe brought back by what had happened in the laboratory. He knew he should have, but he couldn’t just watch him inflicting that torture to himself. He could be nasty at time, but he didn’t deserve it.

“Shadow,” he called, gently placing a hand on the other’s shoulder. His voice was firm “Stop that, I’ve already told you that it’s useless.”

The dark hedgehog immediately stiffened and turned his head towards him, his hands leaving his face. He said nothing at first but stared hard at him, his bloody globes sinking into green ones. He grabbed the hand that was lying on his shoulder, moving it away but not letting it go. He had felt the annoyance bloom inside him at the other’s words, but when their eyes had met he had felt something else fighting to replace it. He couldn’t define the feeling and it confused him. Moreover, the memories still clouded his aching head, making things more difficult for him. His reason struggled against his instinct, screaming against the need that he had being feeling for long years, even when he had been in a coma. The need of stability, of having something more than an old promise to keep him going on, of someone that could hold out a hand to him. But he couldn’t give in, he couldn’t let it win. The final price was too high for him to bear.

He let his head fall down, as he instinctively grabbed Sonic’s shoulder as a support. His head was spinning. “I can’t stop. This is my fate, I can’t fight. I’m destined to time to lose everything and everyone I gain. And I’m not strong enough for it,” he whispered under his breath. His voice was emotionless. “I’m the Ultimate and eternity will be my blessing and my curse until the day I will be destroyed.”

The blue hedgehog’s eyes grew wide as he finally grasped the meaning of what Shadow had told him earlier, while they were alone watching the space. He mentally cursed for not understanding it earlier, for not seeing how much broken his counterpart really was. He would have chosen his words more carefully. He shook his head briefly. Being aware of what the issue was hadn’t made him chance his mind. Maybe his rival was right and he couldn’t understand what it meant being fated to survive everyone and everything, but he didn’t think that avoiding to get close to people and fleeing every chance of happiness was a solution. Some life chances were worth all the pain that could come after, but that was something Shadow didn’t seem to understand. He slowly placed his hands on the other’s shoulders and kept silent. He would talk to him, just not now. The black one was already struggling not to fall into pieces, and he wanted to be a support not an obstacle to him. He didn’t know why but he was pushed towards him by a feeling he couldn’t fight. It wasn’t the same push he felt towards his friends, it was something similar but at the same time deeply different. But it didn’t surprise him too much, after all Shadow couldn’t be compared to anyone else.

They stayed like that for a while, without moving or making any sound. It was like time had stop and the only real thing was the heat of their bodies, close to one another, but not touching apart from the grip on each other’s shoulders. In the end it was Shadow who broke the lull, straightening and moving away from the blue blur. He stood without a word, showing his intention to leave the room. He had gone too far, he had shown too much, he shouldn’t have fallen like that. He needed to put distance between them once again, before leaving became hard. Sonic seemed to read his thoughts because he immediately grabbed his arm.

“Don’t you dare to run away!” The hero stated firmly, jumping on his feet without releasing his grip. “Sorry but I’m not letting you to shut me out. I want us to be friends, Shadow, like you are with Molly. What’s so wrong in it?”

“You are too stubborn to understand which boundaries you mustn’t cross,” the dark creature stated, freeing himself quite easily. “You are doing it even now. That’s the problem.”

They stood facing each others, a few inches separating them.

Sonic crossed his arms, his eyes full of determination. “I’m not giving you up, Shads, no matter how hard you’ll push me away. You’re stuck with me. Deal with it.”

Shadow firmly held his gaze. “I expect no less from you, Faker. You’ll force me to kill you one of these days. And it will be a pity, you are not that bad deep inside.”

The blue hedgehog gaped at him in shock, not sure of having heard it right, and he exploited his astonishment to turn his back to him and walk towards the door again. Sonic blinked a few time, finally getting what the other had just said and he grinned widely, and maybe a bit stupidly, but he felt too pleased to care if he looked foolish. That ARK mess was showing some good sides after all. Maybe it was showing him the extreme way in which he could finally get close to his counterpart. He ignored the strange warm feeling that blossomed in his chest at the thought and went for the door as well.

“What about that purple thing?” He asked as he reached the other hedgehog. “Are you just leaving it there?”

“I’ll deal with it later,” the curt answer was. “I…I need to tell Maria I’m fine, first of all.”

The hero’s smile grew wider at those words, but Shadow decided to ignore it. He hadn’t time for another fight, especially seeing how the previous two had ended. He had sworn to himself that he would have left that door close after Maria’s death, but he already had broken the promise more than once since then. And now he was almost doing it again. _Almost_. He had to stick to that thin line to stop himself from giving in again, but what had been happening since his return to the colony was making it hard for him. He mentally sighed. Maybe for the first time in his life he really hadn’t any idea of what he should do.


End file.
